prostate

Forms

prostate f (plural prostates)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek προστάτης (prostátēs, “one who stands before”).^[2][3][4][1] The Greek word also meant a leader, president, defender or protector, was used in anatomy for the hyoid bone, and was applied in medicine to this gland from the 3rd century, by Herophilus.^[3][2] It is formed with πρό (pró, “before”) and the root of ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to make stand, set up”).^[3][5] The gland was so called because it lies in front of the neck of the bladder.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pierre Belon has it in 1555 in his book on birds, in the plural les prostates for the lobes of the gland.^[2][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Physicians brought the word in to name, as in Late Latin, the gland at the junction of the neck of the bladder and the urethra.^[3] Paré in the 16th century still speaks of two glandular bodies called prostates ou assistans,^[5] and the singular for the whole gland dates from the 18th century.^[7] In the early 20th century it came to stand, by metonymy, for a disease of the prostate, often treated in older men by removing the gland.^[3]

Its derivatives are medical: prostatique (1765), prostatite (1823) and prostatectomie (1890).^[3]

Timeline

• 1555 – Belon writes les prostates for the lobes of the gland.^[2][7]
• 16th century – Paré describes two glandular bodies nommés prostates.^[5]
• 18th century – The singular la prostate names the whole gland.^[7]
• 1765 – Prostatique appears in the Encyclopédie.^[2][3]
• 1823 – Prostatite “inflammation of the prostate” is recorded.^[3]
• 1875 – Pierre Larousse records the masculine prostate for an Athenian official.^[7][6]
• early 20th century – It is used for a disease of the gland.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The prostate gland of male mammals, which surrounds the first part of the urethra below the bladder and whose secretion forms part of the semen: Un examen de la prostate.^[8][2][9]
2. (by extension) A disease of the prostate: Son grand-père doit se faire opérer de la prostate.^[8][3]

Related words

• Ancient Greek προστάτης (prostátēs)

Usage notes

A masculine prostate, of the same Greek origin, is a historical term: in ancient Greece it named various officials with a leading or protective role, especially at Athens the patron of the resident foreigners (métèques), who represented them before the state.^[6][7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)