Difference between revisions of "Prostitute"
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==Origins== | ==Origins== | ||
[[File:Cover-sacred-prostitute.jpg|right|frame]] | [[File:Cover-sacred-prostitute.jpg|right|frame]] | ||
| − | ‘To prostitute’ is derived from a composition of two [[Latin]] words: (preposition) pro and (verb) statuere. A literal translation therefore would be: ‘to expose’, ‘to place up front’. | + | ‘To prostitute’ is derived from a composition of two [[Latin]] [[words]]: (preposition) pro and (verb) statuere. A literal [[translation]] therefore would be: ‘to expose’, ‘to place up front’. |
==Definitions== | ==Definitions== | ||
| − | *1. a. A woman who engages in sexual activity in return for payment, esp. as a means of livelihood; (formerly also) any promiscuous woman, a harlot. | + | *1. a. A woman who engages in [[sexual]] [[action|activity]] in return for payment, esp. as a means of livelihood; (formerly also) any promiscuous woman, a harlot. |
:b. A boy kept by a man as a sexual partner; a catamite. Obs. (but cf. sense 1c). | :b. A boy kept by a man as a sexual partner; a catamite. Obs. (but cf. sense 1c). | ||
:c. A man who engages in sexual (esp. homosexual) activity in return for payment. Freq. as male prostitute | :c. A man who engages in sexual (esp. homosexual) activity in return for payment. Freq. as male prostitute | ||
*2. fig. and in extended use. | *2. fig. and in extended use. | ||
| − | :a. A person entirely or abjectly devoted to another; a ‘slave’. (In early examples apparently without pejorative connotations.) | + | :a. A [[person]] entirely or abjectly devoted to another; a ‘slave’. (In early examples apparently without pejorative connotations.) |
| − | :b. A person who acts in a debased or corrupt way for profit or advantage; a person who undertakes any demeaning or dishonourable act, office, or connection for personal gain. | + | :b. A person who acts in a debased or corrupt way for [[profit]] or advantage; a person who undertakes any demeaning or dishonourable [[act]], office, or connection for personal gain. |
[[Category: General Reference]] | [[Category: General Reference]] | ||
Latest revision as of 12:59, 20 October 2009
Origins
‘To prostitute’ is derived from a composition of two Latin words: (preposition) pro and (verb) statuere. A literal translation therefore would be: ‘to expose’, ‘to place up front’.
Definitions
- 1. a. A woman who engages in sexual activity in return for payment, esp. as a means of livelihood; (formerly also) any promiscuous woman, a harlot.
- b. A boy kept by a man as a sexual partner; a catamite. Obs. (but cf. sense 1c).
- c. A man who engages in sexual (esp. homosexual) activity in return for payment. Freq. as male prostitute
- 2. fig. and in extended use.
- a. A person entirely or abjectly devoted to another; a ‘slave’. (In early examples apparently without pejorative connotations.)
- b. A person who acts in a debased or corrupt way for profit or advantage; a person who undertakes any demeaning or dishonourable act, office, or connection for personal gain.
