prothèse

Forms

prothèse f (plural prothèses)^[1] Earlier medical form prosthèse (1658), which prothèse displaced.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg record prosthèse beside prothèse in medicine from 1765 to about 1870.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek πρόσθεσις (prósthesis, “a putting to, addition”).^[4][3][1] Rey adds that physicians took it from the scientific Latin prosthesis.^[2] The Greek noun meant the act of putting something before, on or against, and in grammar the addition of a letter or syllable at the start of a word; it is formed from προσ- (pros-) and θέσις (thésis, “a placing”), beside the verb προστίθημι (prostíthēmi, “to put beside, add”).^[2][1]

From Late Latin on it was often confused with Ancient Greek πρόθεσις (próthesis, “a setting before; preposition”), formed from προ- (pro-) and the same noun: Late Latin took over both nouns, and grammarians of the 4th and 5th centuries used prosthesis and prothesis alike for the addition of an initial letter or syllable.^[4][2][3] In French the form without ⟨s⟩ won, helped by the many words beginning with pro-, in which the prefix means “for”.^[4][3][2] Littré derived the French word from the latter.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1695, in Le Clerc's Chirurgie complette, for the artificial replacement of an organ that has been removed.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The medical word first named the operation of replacing a missing limb or organ, and in particular the restoring of teeth: prothèse dentaire is recorded in 1859.^[4][2] By metonymy it came to name the replacement piece or appliance itself, recorded in 1932 in bone and joint surgery,^[4] and it is sometimes used for plastic surgery operations (1958).^[4][2]

The grammatical sense, the addition of a non-etymological element at the start of a word, is recorded in 1704 in the Dictionnaire de Trévoux;^[4][6] it was refashioned after the Greek as prosthèse (1755), the form Bloch and Wartburg describe as kept only for this sense.^[2][3] From 1832 the word also names the small side apse of the sanctuary in Greek churches and the portable altar on which what is needed for the liturgy is prepared, Littré's autel de prothèse (1869).^[4][2][5]

Both derivatives come from the medical sense: prothétique (1841) and prothésiste (1955), now common in dentistry.^[2]

Timeline

• 1658 – The medical form prosthèse is recorded.^[2]
• 1695 – Prothèse appears in Le Clerc's Chirurgie complette for the replacement of a lost organ.^[4]
• 1704 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records the grammatical sense.^[4][6]
• 1755 – The grammatical word is refashioned as prosthèse.^[2]
• 1832 – First record of the sense “portable altar” in Greek churches.^[4][2]
• 1859 – Prothèse dentaire is recorded.^[4][2]
• 1932 – The Larousse du XXe siècle uses it for the replacement piece or appliance.^[4]
• 1955 – The derivative prothésiste appears.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) The branch of surgery concerned with replacing missing limbs or organs by artificial appliances, and in particular, in dentistry, the making of dental appliances.^[7][6]
2. (medicine) A prosthesis: an appliance that replaces a missing or badly damaged limb, part of a limb or organ, as in prothèse dentaire or prothèse de la hanche.^[7][4]
3. (linguistics) prothesis: the development of a non-etymological sound at the start of a word, as the initial é- of étoile from Latin stella; also the element so added.^[4][2]
4. (architecture) The small side apse of the sanctuary in Greek churches, with the portable altar on which what is needed for the liturgy is prepared.^[4][5]

Word family

• prothétique
• prothésiste

Related words

• prosthèse
• thèse
• Ancient Greek πρόσθεσις (prósthesis)

Usage notes

Prosthèse, once also used in medicine, survives only as a dated synonym of the linguistic sense,^[4][3] and its derivative prosthétique (1898) is still used in linguistics.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert