protozoa: [19] Greek prótos meant ‘first’ (like English first and Latin prīmus ‘first’ it goes back ultimately to Indo-European *pro ‘before, in front’). It forms the basis of a wide range of English words, both original Greek compounds and post-classical formations, among them protagonist [17] (etymologically the ‘first or leading actor’), protein, protocol, proton [20], protoplasm [19], and prototype [17]. Protozoa itself was coined in modern Latin by the zoologist Goldfuss in 1818 from proto- and Greek zóia ‘animals’ (source of English zoo), the notion being that the protozoa are the simplest or most primitive forms of life. => zoo
