prostate

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from French prostate, recorded in Middle French in 1555, and partly from its source, borrowed from New Latin prostata, recorded in 1625.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin word renders Ancient Greek προστάτης (prostátēs, “one who stands before, leader, guardian”), which in Hellenistic Greek also meant the prostate gland;^[2][4][6][7] Etymonline and Barnhart give it with ἀδήν (adḗn, “gland”).^[4][3] The Greek noun is formed from προΐστημι (proḯstēmi, “to set before”),^[2][4][6][3] from πρό (pró, “before”) and ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to cause to stand”);^[2][4][6] Etymonline traces these to Proto-Indo-European *per- (“forward”) and Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand”).^[4][8] The gland is so called from its position at the base of the bladder, in front of its opening.^[4][3][6] In an English translation of 1654 the Latin word appears as prostrata, and the OED compares prostrate.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The prostate gland: 1638, in A. Read's Manuall of the Anatomy of the Body of Man.^[2][9] Barnhart dates it to 1646, and Etymonline to the 1640s.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its anatomical meaning;^[2][10] its attributive use, as in prostate gland and prostate cancer, is recorded from 1711.^[2] In zoology it also names the small glands of similar function in some other animals.^[10]

Timeline

• 1555 – French prostate.^[2]
• 1625 – Latin prostata.^[2]
• 1638 – the prostate gland, in English.^[2][9]
• 1646 – first record according to Barnhart.^[3]
• 1711 – attributive use, as in prostate gland.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gland in male mammals that surrounds the urethra at the neck of the bladder and adds a fluid to the semen.^[11][2][9]

Adjective

1. Of or relating to the prostate gland: prostate cancer.^[9][2][11]

Word family

• prostatic
• prostaglandin
• prostatism
• prostatitis
• prostate-specific antigen

Related words

• prostrate
• stand

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster records a pronunciation ending like prostrate as chiefly substandard,^[9] and Dictionary.com lists prostate and prostrate among words that are often confused.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House