'prototype-like' originates from English, formed by combining the noun 'prototype' and the adjectival suffix '-like'. 'prototype' ultimately comes from Greek 'prototypon', where 'proto-' meant 'first' and 'typos' meant 'impression' or 'model'.

'prototype' entered English via French 'prototype' (17th century) from Greek 'prototypon'; the suffix '-like' derives from Old English 'līc' (body, form) and developed into the productive English suffix '-like' meaning 'similar to', producing compounds such as 'prototype-like'.

Initially 'prototypon' meant 'first impression' or 'original model', and '-like' meant 'having the form of'; over time the combined English form came to mean 'similar to an original model' or 'resembling an early/test version'.