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prostitutio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word prostitutio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 160–220, Tertullian
Ultimate origin
Latin prōstituō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin statuo
Latin prostituo
Latin prostitutio
English prostitution
From the same root
Latin destituo ← statuo
Latin praestituo ← statuo
Latin restituo ← statuo
Latin statutum ← statuo
Latin prostituta ← prostituo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [proːs.tɪˈtuː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pros.tiˈtut.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

prōstitūtiō f (genitive prōstitūtiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prōstituō (“to expose publicly, prostitute”) + -tiō.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Tertullian,[3] who, writing on women's adornment, charges dress with ambition and the dressing of hair with prostitutio.[2]

Semantic evolution

The TLL notes that it occurs in the Bible and in Christian writers.[2] Its main sense is prostitution: Arnobius speaks of the prostitutio of bodies for sale, Lactantius of the prostitutiones of women, and Augustine of a pimp buying girls for it.[2][4] In the Latin Bible and the Fathers it is also used figuratively, of idolatry, heresy and a sinful life, rendering Greek porneía where the Vulgate often has fornicatio.[2] Tertullian also uses it more generally for the dishonouring of images.[4]

Stelten gives the Church Latin senses prostitution and fornication.[5] English took the word in the 1530s, partly through French.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 – Tertullian uses it for prostitution and for profaning images.[4][3]
  • c. 250–317 – Lactantius uses the plural of women's prostitution.[4][3]
  • 297–310 – Arnobius speaks of the prostitution of bodies for sale.[2][3]
  • 354–430 – Augustine uses it literally and of the soul's sinfulness.[2][3]
  • 1530s – English borrows it as prostitution.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Prostitution; fornication.[4][2][5]
  2. (figurative, Ecclesiastical Latin) Idolatry, heresy or sinfulness seen as prostitution.[2]
  3. A dishonouring, profanation.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Prostitutio.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/prostitutio. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·