protean – Cultural Vocabulary of Academics | Top 175 ims of people

Vocabulary of Academic Culture: Top 175 Eponymous Adjectives of People
As ranked by Google Ngram Viewer corpus search of millions of texts published 1988-2008
Adjective protean
Presented by: Paulina Duhita Anindita, Indonesian; Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University

Next quixotic
Previous Herculean / herculean
Related Boasian
Namesake Proteus, Greek god of the seas and rivers
Total rank 99
General Rank 15
% Change from 1967-1987 +7
Decade of 1st prominent use 1790
Peak usage year 1999
Used as much as aspectual
Used 2x as much as Virgilian / Vergilian
Used half as much as hermetic / Hermetic
Era Antiquity
Sample quote The essence of a protean career is that the individual determines the values and goals that are personally meaningful. Nevertheless, it is sometimes assumed that individuals pursuing a protean career hold different values or goals (freedom, growth, life balance) than individuals pursuing an organizational career.
Quote source The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Behavior: Volume One: Micro Approaches
edited by Julian Barling, Cary L Cooper (2008, SAGE; p. 283)
Text protean. protean.
Proteus was a Greek god of the seas and rivers; he wasn’t the top of his group though; the king of the sea was Poseidon, and there were many other water gods and goddesses. So it was a competitive job. Perhaps in order to distinguish himself, Proteus was a master of changing forms: he could become man, woman or child; a small or large animal of the land or the sea; or simply become a rock if he pleased. But he is best known for transforming when others are trying to catch him. Proteus could see the future, but he didn’t like to use this power. So those who wanted to get their fortune told had to capture and hold him down, even if he turned into water or fire.
True to the character of our Greek god, the adjective protean has a flexible meaning. People often speak of a protean nature, or character, and these are good things. If art has a protean nature, it can appeal in different ways to different kinds of people. The protean nature of philosophy means that it can be applied successfully to many aspects of life.
On the other hand, the second most common usage is protean manifestations, which refers to a dangerous type of flexibility. If a disease has protean manifestations, it can exhibit a variety of symptoms in an unpredictable way, and therefore can be hard to treat or even diagnose. Since drinking alcohol affects each individual uniquely, alcoholism’s protean manifestations may require a personalized therapeutic approach.
Finally, as job markets grow more and more competitive, terms like protean self or protean career indicate that modern workers must have a diversity of skills and professional capabilities; so that one is good OR bad, depending on your point of view.
So, when you hear that something is protean, it probably means that thing can behave in various, sometimes unpredictable ways.
Joke Up in the office! Look! It’s an accountant! It’s a coordinator! It’s… Protean Man!

sources: Google Ngram Viewer
Wikipedia, the ever-changing body of world knowledge
The Philosopher in Early Modern Europe: The Nature of a Contested Identity
edited by Conal Condren, Stephen Gaukroger, Ian Hunter (2006, Cambridge University Press; p.81): https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=6…
Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Proteus: Mythology to modern times, Senthy V. Sellaturay, Raj Nair, Ian K. Dickinson, and Seshadri Sriprasad; Indian J Urol. 2012 Oct-Dec; 28(4): 388–391: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic…

music: “Prelude in Bmaj Sonata Rondo” by Scott Sprankle https://www.youtube.com/user/Sprankle…

protean – Cultural Vocabulary of Academics | Top 175 ims of people

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