prostituta Latin · revision 36986

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=4 BC–65 AD, Seneca|origins=la prōstituō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''prōstitūta''' ''f'' (genitive prōstitūtae); first declension^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|prōstituō|t=to expose publicly, prostitute]], the feminine of its perfect passive participle used as a noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010) The verb is formed from [[m|la|prō-|t=forth, in front]] and [[m|la|statuō|t=to set up]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a noun it is found in Seneca,^(Conte 2010)^(Georges 1913) meaning a woman who sells herself publicly, a [[m|en|prostitute]].^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Pliny the Elder and Suetonius also use it as a noun,^(Conte 2010)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913) while the participle itself stayed an adjective, “publicly offered, for sale”: Tertullian even forms a superlative, ''prostitutissima lupa''.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) Köbler records the noun in Tertullian and in the glossaries, where it is glossed with Old High German words for a harlot.^(Köbler 2010) It remained in Church Latin with the sense “prostitute, harlot”^(Stelten 1995) and passed into Italian as ''prostituta''.^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it as a noun for a prostitute.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the noun in the ''Natural History''.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a woman of the streets.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses the noun and the superlative of the participle.^(Köbler 2010)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|prostitute]], [[m|en|whore]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A [[m|en|harlot]].^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[prōstituō]]

+ * [[en|prostitute]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The masculine [[prostitūtus|alt=prōstitūtus]] was used in the same way for a male prostitute.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}