prompt

See also: Prompt

English

Etymology

The adjective is from Middle English prompte, from Middle French prompt and its etymon Latin prōmptus (“visible, apparent, evident”), past participle of prōmō (“to take or bring out or forth, produce, bring to light”), from prō (“forth, forward”) + emō (“to take, acquire, buy”).^[1] Doublet of pronto.

The verb is from Middle English prompen, apparently from the adjective.^[2] The noun is from the verb.^[3]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹɒmpt/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /pɹɑmpt/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɒmpt

Adjective

prompt (comparative more prompt, superlative most prompt)

Quick; acting without delay.
Synonyms: hasty; see also Thesaurus:prompt

He was very prompt at getting a new job.

a prompt response
On time; punctual.
Synonyms: timely; see also Thesaurus:punctual

Be prompt for your appointment.
(archaic) Ready; willing to act.
Synonyms: good to go, yare
- 1623, William Shakespeare, Antony & Cleopatra, act 3, scene 8:
  Tell him, I am prompt / To lay my Crowne at's feete, and there to kneele.
(finance) Front: closest or nearest, in futures trading.
- 2013 July 5, Davis W. Edwards, Energy Investing DeMystified: A Self-Teaching Guide, McGraw Hill Professional, →ISBN, page 19:
  When physical crude oil transactions are priced, they are usually marked to the prompt month futures contract. The prompt month futures contract is the next futures contract to settle.
- 2021 May 11, Neil C. Schofield, Commodity Derivatives: Markets and Applications, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 448:
  The settlement ratio is determined as follows: i) If the prompt futures price of coal at maturity is less than or equal to the floor price, the ratio will be one.

Derived terms

Translations

quick

Albanian: atypëratyshëm (sq)
Armenian: շտապ (hy) (štap), արագ (hy) (arag)
Bulgarian: бърз (bg) (bǎrz), чевръст (bg) (čevrǎst)
Catalan: ràpid (ca), prompte (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 迅速 (zh) (xùnsù), 急速 (zh) (jísù)
Dutch: prompt (nl)
Finnish: nopea (fi), ripeä (fi), sutjakka (fi)
German: prompt (de)
Greek: γρήγορα (el) (grígora)
Hungarian: prompt (hu), gyors (hu), haladéktalan (hu)
Indonesian: cepat (id)
Irish: tapa, pras
Italian: pronto (it), disponibile (it)
Māori: takaniti
Norwegian: prompt (no), prompte
Polish: prędki n
Portuguese: rápido (pt), imediato (pt)
Romanian: rapid (ro), prompt (ro)
Russian: бы́стрый (ru) (býstryj), прово́рный (ru) (provórnyj) (nimble, agile)
Spanish: rápido (es), pronto (es), raudo (es), célere
Ukrainian: швидки́й (švydkýj)
Vietnamese: nhanh lẹ, mau lẹ (vi), nhanh nhẹn (vi), nhanh (vi)
Yiddish: באַלדיק (baldik)

on time

Albanian: në kohë
Arabic: فورا
Bulgarian: навременен (bg) (navremenen)
Catalan: puntual (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 準時 / 准时 (zh) (zhǔnshí), 及時 / 及时 (zh) (jíshí)
Esperanto: akurata
Finnish: täsmällinen (fi)
French: ponctuel (fr)
Ido: akurata (io)
Italian: puntuale (it)
Māori: takaniti
Norwegian: prompt (no), prompte
Polish: na czas (pl)
Portuguese: pontual (pt)
Romanian: punctual (ro)
Russian: пунктуа́льный (ru) (punktuálʹnyj), аккура́тный (ru) (akkurátnyj)
Serbo-Croatian: promptno (sh)
Spanish: puntual (es)
Ukrainian: то́чний (uk) (tóčnyj), пунктуа́льний (punktuálʹnyj)
Urdu: فوراً (fauran)

Noun

prompt (plural prompts)

A reminder or cue.
1. (theater) A word, phrase or line supplied by a prompter to an actor who has forgotten the script.
2. (writing) A suggestion for inspiration given to an author.
3. (computing) A sequence of characters that is displayed to indicate that a computer is ready to receive input.
  I filled in my name where the prompt appeared on the computer screen, but my account wasn't recognized.
5. (machine learning) Textual input given to a large language model or image model in order to have it generate a desired output.
  I struggled to come up with a prompt that would give me the exact image I had in mind.
  - 2022 April 15, Steven Johnson, Nikita Iziev, “A.I. Is Mastering Language. Should We Trust What It Says?”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:
    For instance, using the “instruct” mode, I once gave GPT-3 the prompt: “Write an essay discussing the role of metafiction in the work of Italo Calvino.”
(business, dated) A time limit given for payment of an account for produce purchased, this limit varying with different goods.
- 1848, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy: With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], →OCLC:
  To cover any probable difference of price which might arise before the expiration of the prompt, which for this article [tea] is three months.

Derived terms

Translations

a reminder or cue

Armenian: հուշում (hy) (hušum)
Bulgarian: напомняне (bg) (napomnjane)
Finnish: kehote (fi), muistutus (fi)
French: indicateur (fr) m
Hungarian: emlékeztető (hu), felszólítás (hu)
Italian: promemoria (it) m, segnale (it) m, avvertimento (it) m, scadenzario (it) m
Māori: kupu whāngai, tīwhiri
Polish: podpowiedź (pl) f
Russian: подска́зка (ru) f (podskázka), напомина́ние (ru) n (napominánije) (reminder)
Serbo-Croatian: podsjetnik (sh) m
Spanish: pie (es) m, entrada (es) f, señal (es) f, apunte (es) m, soplo (es) m, pitazo m
Ukrainian: підка́зка f (pidkázka), нага́дування n (naháduvannja)
Vietnamese: nhắc nhở (vi)

a computer prompt — see also message,‎ instruction,‎ question,‎ request,‎ command

Dutch: prompt (nl)
Finnish: kehote (fi)
French: invite de commande (fr) f
German: Eingabeaufforderung f
Greek: προτροπή (el) f (protropí)
Hungarian: prompt (hu)
Indonesian: wantian, pesan (id)
Italian: avvio di comando m
Japanese: プロンプト (ja) (puronputo)
Korean: 프롬프트 (ko) (peurompeuteu)
Māori: tohuāki
Polish: monit (pl) m
Portuguese: prompt de comando m
Russian: подска́зка (ru) f (podskázka), приглаше́ние (ru) n (priglašénije), промпт (ru) m (prompt)
Serbo-Croatian: prompt (sh) m, upit (sh) m, poruka (sh) f, ponuka (sh)
Spanish: prompt (es) m
Swedish: prompt (sv) c
Ukrainian: підка́зка f (pidkázka), запро́шення n (zapróšennja)

textual input given to a LLM — see also message,‎ instruction,‎ indication

Azerbaijani: promt
French: prompt (fr) m
German: Prompt (de) m, KI-Anweisung f
Portuguese: prompt (pt) m
Spanish: prompt (es) m
Turkish: istem (tr)

Verb

prompt (third-person singular simple present prompts, present participle prompting, simple past and past participle prompted)

(transitive) To lead (someone) toward what they should say or do.
Synonyms: counsel, exhort; see also Thesaurus:advise

I prompted him to get a new job.
(transitive) To say (something) in order to help or encourage someone to speak.
"How did you solve the issue then?" Jason prompted while staring at Lana.
- 1988, Tad Williams, chapter 5, in The Dragonbone Chair, DAW Books, →ISBN:
  "What is your name, you?" he demanded. The captured youth tried to pull free again, but was obviously tiring. After a moment he stopped his struggling altogether. "Your name?" Simon prompted, this time in a softer tone.
  "Malachias." The youth turned away panting.
- 2007 December, Margaret Mayo, Helen Brooks, Carole Mortimer, A Presents Christmas Bundle: An Anthology, Harlequin, page 51:
  ‘Be warned, Molly,’ Gideon added harshly. ‘I won't ever let you do or say anything that will hurt Crys. Is that understood?’ he prompted determinedly.
(transitive, theater and television) To show or tell (an actor/person) the words they should be saying, or actions they should be doing.
If he forgets his words I will prompt him.
(transitive) To initiate; to cause or lead to.
Synonyms: instigate, provoke; see also Thesaurus:incite
- 1996, Tad Williams, chapter 7, in City of Golden Shadow, Legend Books, →ISBN:
  At first Renie's chain of thought had been prompted by the unsatisfactory nature of phone contact compared to an actual meeting, […]
- 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC‎^[2]:
  The only sour note on a virtually perfect night for England came from shameful 'monkey' chanting aimed at Ashley Cole and Ashley Young from a section of Bulgaria's fans which later prompted an official complaint from the Football Association to Uefa.
- 2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 1, 27:
  On October 6, 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, the first sound-synched feature film, prompting a technological shift of unprecedented speed and unstoppable force. Within two years, nearly every studio release was a talkie.
(transitive, computing) To request (a user) to provide input or do something on a computer.
The script prompted him to enter his credit account number.
(transitive, machine learning) To provide textual input in the form of ordinary language to (an artificial intelligence or language model) to have it generate a desired output.
I want to prompt this new AI art generator to create an image of a panda riding a bike.

Derived terms

Translations

to lead someone toward what they should say or do — see also incite,‎ provoke,‎ elicit,‎ lead to

Albanian: nxis
Bulgarian: подсказвам (bg) (podskazvam)
Catalan: incitar (ca)
Czech: přimět (cs) pf, pohnout (cs) pf, dohnat (cs) pf
Dutch: aansporen (nl), aanmoedigen (nl), aanzetten (nl)
Finnish: johdatella (fi)
French: inciter (fr)
German: veranlassen (de), dazu bringen, antreiben (de), anstacheln (de), anleiten (de)
Hungarian: buzdít (hu), ösztönöz (hu), sarkall (hu), indít (hu), felszólít (hu)
Irish: spreag
Italian: incitare (it), guidare (it), spingere (it)
Korean: 부추기다 (ko) (buchugida)
Māori: whāngai kupu, āki
Portuguese: incitar (pt), impelir (pt)
Russian: побужда́ть (ru) (pobuždátʹ), внуша́ть (ru) (vnušátʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: poticati (sh) impf, nukati (sh) impf, ponukati (sh) pf
Spanish: llevar a, concitar (es), suscitar (es)
Ukrainian: спонука́ти (sponukáty), заохо́чувати (zaoxóčuvaty)

to show or tell an actor/person the words they should be saying, or actions they should be doing

Albanian: sufloj
Bulgarian: суфлирам (bg) (sufliram)
Catalan: apuntar (ca)
Czech: napovědět
Dutch: souffleren (nl)
Esperanto: suflori
Finnish: kuiskata (fi)
German: vorsagen (de), vormachen (de) (show actions)
Hungarian: súg (hu)
Ido: suflar (io)
Italian: suggerire (it), imbeccare, dettare (it)
Māori: whāngai kupu
Portuguese: pontar
Russian: подска́зывать (ru) (podskázyvatʹ), суфли́ровать (ru) (suflírovatʹ) (theatre)
Serbo-Croatian: šaptati (sh) impf, suflirati (sh) impf or pf
Spanish: apuntar (es), soplar (es), dar el pitazo (Latin America)
Swedish: sufflera (sv)
Ukrainian: підка́зувати (pidkázuvaty), підказа́ти pf (pidkazáty)

to cause or lead to — see also cause,‎ provoke,‎ incite,‎ elicit,‎ induce

Bulgarian: подтиквам (bg) (podtikvam)
Catalan: causar (ca)
Chinese: 指使 (zh) (zhǐshǐ)
Danish: forårsage (da)
Dutch: veroorzaken (nl)
French: causer (fr)
Galician: causar (gl)
German: verursachen (de)
Hungarian: késztet (hu), indít (hu), okoz (hu), kivált (hu)
Ido: efektigar (io)
Italian: causare (it)
Portuguese: causar (pt)
Romanian: cauza (ro)
Spanish: suscitar (es), concitar (es)
Swedish: orsaka (sv), leda till

to give instructions to an artificial intelligence system — see also instruct,‎ order,‎ request,‎ ask

Finnish: antaa kehote (+ allative)
French: prompter (fr)
German: prompten (de)
Spanish: promptear, mandar (es), ordenar (es), instruir (es)
Swedish: prompta (sv)

References

^ “prompt, adj. and adv.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
^ “prompt, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
^ “prompt, n.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /prɔmpt/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: prompt
Rhymes: -ɔmpt

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French prompt, from Latin prōmptus.

Adverb

prompt

immediately, promptly
Synonym: meteen

Hij betaalde prompt.
He paid promptly.

Adjective

prompt (not comparable)

quick, immediate

Declension

Declension of prompt
uninflected	prompt
inflected	prompte
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		prompt
indefinite	m./f. sing.	prompte
	n. sing.	prompt
	plural	prompte
definite		prompte
partitive		prompts

Noun

prompt m (plural prompts, no diminutive)

(computing) prompt

French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pʁɔ̃/, /pʁɔ̃t/, /pʁɔ̃pt/
Audio: (file)
Audio (France (Toulouse)): (file)

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin promptus.

Adjective

prompt (feminine prompte, masculine plural prompts, feminine plural promptes)

prompt, swift, quick
Near-synonym: rapide

prompt rétablissement ― get well soon
(Louisiana) curt

Related terms

promptitude

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English prompt.

Noun

prompt m (plural prompts)

(artificial intelligence) prompt
- 2024 April 6, Selma Chougar, “Création assistée par IA : cinq astuces pour devenir le Picasso du « prompt art »”, in Le Monde‎^[3]:
  Avant même d’écrire son « prompt » (la requête qui permet de générer des textes ou des images), il faut d’abord choisir l’intelligence artificielle (IA) à laquelle on souhaite s’adresser.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

prompter

German

Etymology

From French prompt, from Latin prōmptus (“visible, apparent, evident”), past participle of prōmō (“to take or bring out or forth, produce, bring to light”), from prō (“forth, forward”) + emō (“to take, acquire, buy”). Doublet of Prompt.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pʁɔmpt/
Audio (Germany (Berlin)): (file)
Homophone: Prompt

Adjective

prompt (strong nominative masculine singular prompter, comparative prompter, superlative am promptesten)

immediate, swift, expeditious, prompt

Declension

Positive forms of prompt

number & gender		singular			plural
number & gender		masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
predicative		er ist prompt	sie ist prompt	es ist prompt	sie sind prompt
strong declension (without article)	nominative	prompter	prompte	promptes	prompte
	genitive	prompten	prompter	prompten	prompter
	dative	promptem	prompter	promptem	prompten
	accusative	prompten	prompte	promptes	prompte
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der prompte	die prompte	das prompte	die prompten
	genitive	des prompten	der prompten	des prompten	der prompten
	dative	dem prompten	der prompten	dem prompten	den prompten
	accusative	den prompten	die prompte	das prompte	die prompten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein prompter	eine prompte	ein promptes	(keine) prompten
	genitive	eines prompten	einer prompten	eines prompten	(keiner) prompten
	dative	einem prompten	einer prompten	einem prompten	(keinen) prompten
	accusative	einen prompten	eine prompte	ein promptes	(keine) prompten

Comparative forms of prompt

number & gender		singular			plural
number & gender		masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
predicative		er ist prompter	sie ist prompter	es ist prompter	sie sind prompter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	prompterer	promptere	prompteres	promptere
	genitive	prompteren	prompterer	prompteren	prompterer
	dative	prompterem	prompterer	prompterem	prompteren
	accusative	prompteren	promptere	prompteres	promptere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der promptere	die promptere	das promptere	die prompteren
	genitive	des prompteren	der prompteren	des prompteren	der prompteren
	dative	dem prompteren	der prompteren	dem prompteren	den prompteren
	accusative	den prompteren	die promptere	das promptere	die prompteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein prompterer	eine promptere	ein prompteres	(keine) prompteren
	genitive	eines prompteren	einer prompteren	eines prompteren	(keiner) prompteren
	dative	einem prompteren	einer prompteren	einem prompteren	(keinen) prompteren
	accusative	einen prompteren	eine promptere	ein prompteres	(keine) prompteren

Superlative forms of prompt

number & gender		singular			plural
number & gender		masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
predicative		er ist am promptesten	sie ist am promptesten	es ist am promptesten	sie sind am promptesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	promptester	prompteste	promptestes	prompteste
	genitive	promptesten	promptester	promptesten	promptester
	dative	promptestem	promptester	promptestem	promptesten
	accusative	promptesten	prompteste	promptestes	prompteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der prompteste	die prompteste	das prompteste	die promptesten
	genitive	des promptesten	der promptesten	des promptesten	der promptesten
	dative	dem promptesten	der promptesten	dem promptesten	den promptesten
	accusative	den promptesten	die prompteste	das prompteste	die promptesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein promptester	eine prompteste	ein promptestes	(keine) promptesten
	genitive	eines promptesten	einer promptesten	eines promptesten	(keiner) promptesten
	dative	einem promptesten	einer promptesten	einem promptesten	(keinen) promptesten
	accusative	einen promptesten	eine prompteste	ein promptestes	(keine) promptesten

Norman

Etymology

From Latin prōmptus, past participle of prōmō (“to take, bring out, produce, bring to light”).

Adjective

prompt m

(Jersey) hasty

Derived terms

promptément (“hastily”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

prompte

Etymology

From French prompt, from Latin promptus, from promere (“bring out”).

Adverb

prompt

quickly and punctually; promptly

Adjective

prompt (singular and plural prompt, comparative mer prompt, superlative mest prompt)

quick and punctual; prompt

References

“prompt” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
“prompt” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English prompt. Doublet of pronto.

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾõ.pi.t͡ʃi/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾõ.pi.te/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾõpt/

Noun

prompt m (plural prompts)

(artificial intelligence) prompt (textual input given to a language model)

References

“prompt”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French prompt, from Latin promptus.

Adjective

prompt m or n (feminine singular promptă, masculine plural prompți, feminine/neuter plural prompte)

prompt

Declension

Declension of *prompt*
		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	prompt		promptă	prompți	prompte
nominative- accusative	definite	promptul		prompta	prompții	promptele
genitive- dative	indefinite	prompt		prompte	prompți	prompte
genitive- dative	definite	promptului		promptei	prompților	promptelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English prompt.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpɾombt/ [ˈpɾõmbt̪]
Rhymes: -ombt
Syllabification: prompt

Noun

prompt m (plural prompts)

(artificial intelligence) prompt (textual input given to a large language model in order to generate a desired output)

Swedish

Adverb

prompt (not comparable)

promptly (immediately)
Svaret kom prompt
The answer came promptly
unconditionally, necessarily
Om du prompt måste göra det så ta det försiktigt
If you necessarily have to do it, be careful

Adjective

prompt (not comparable)

(in some expressions) prompt (quick)
prompt leverans
prompt delivery

Declension

Inflection of **prompt**
Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative¹
common singular	prompt	—	—
neuter singular	prompt	—	—
plural	prompta	—	—
masculine plural²	prompte	—	—

Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular³	prompte	—	—
all	prompta	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Noun

prompt c

(computing) a prompt
(machine learning) a prompt

Declension

Declension of **prompt**
		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	prompt	prompts
singular	definite	prompten	promptens
plural	indefinite	promptar	promptars
plural	definite	promptarna	promptarnas

References

“prompt”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
“prompt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
“prompt”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

[1] “prompt, adj. and adv.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

[2] “prompt, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

[3] “prompt, n.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

[1]

[2]

[3]

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Adverb

Adjective

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymology 2

Noun

French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Adjective

Related terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

German

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Further reading

Norman

Etymology

Adjective

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

Etymology

Adverb

Adjective

References

Portuguese

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Romanian

Etymology

Adjective

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Swedish

Adverb

Adjective

Declension

Noun

Declension

References