Etymologically
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prostitutio

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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