ˈprōd.ēəs, -ōˌtüs, -ō.ˌtyüs noun
Etymology: from Proteus, sea god who could assume different shapes, from Latin — more at protean
1. -es often capitalized : one that is capable of infinite change : one having a great diversity of interests or abilities
a true Proteus of literature … has been sucessively a dramatist, a sociologist, a highly successful writer of historical novels — William Du Bois
a Proteus, a master of disguise, an impersonator — Times Literary Supplement
2.
[New Latin, from Proteus, sea god, from Latin]
a.
(1) capitalized : the type genus of the family Proteidae comprising solely the olm
(2) -es : olm
b. -es : amoeba
3. capitalized
[New Latin, from Proteus, sea god]
a. : a genus of aerobic gram-negative bacteria (family Enterobacteriaceae) that ferment glucose but not lactose, decompose urea, that are usually motile by means of peritrichous flagella, and that include saprophytes in decaying organic matter as well as forms obscurely related to gastrointestinal disorders and several strains antigenically linked to the rickettsias of typhus
b. plural pro·tei -d.ēˌī : any bacterium of the genus Proteus