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prostitute.

Debased, corrupt; seeking personal gain by dishonourable means.

10 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈpɹɒstɪˌtjuːt/Received-Pronunciation[ˈpɹɒstɪtʰjuːt]Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹɒstɪˌt͡ʃuːt/[ˈpɹɒstɪˌt͡ʃuːt]
  1. Debased, corrupt; seeking personal gain by dishonourable means.

    obsolete
  2. Taking part in promiscuous sexual activity, licentious; (later, chiefly as attributive use of noun) that is a prostitute.

  3. Exposed, subjected (to something shameful).

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂-tu-s ~ *sth₂-téw-s Proto-Italic *status Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Italic *statujō Proto-Italic *statuō Latin statuō Latin prōstituō Latin prōstitūtusder. English prostitute From Latin prōstitūtus, past participle of prōstituō, from prō̆ (“for, before”) + statuō (“to set up, to erect”).

noun/ˈpɹɒstɪˌtjuːt/Received-Pronunciation[ˈpɹɒstɪtʰjuːt]Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹɒstɪˌt͡ʃuːt/[ˈpɹɒstɪˌt͡ʃuːt]
  1. Any person (especially a woman) who has sexual intercourse or engages in other sexual activity for payment, especially as a means of livelihood.

  2. A woman who has sexual intercourse or engages in other sexual activity for payment, especially as a means of livelihood.

  3. A person who does, or offers to do, a demeaning or dishonourable activity for money or personal gain; someone who acts in a dishonourable way for personal advantage.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂-tu-s ~ *sth₂-téw-s Proto-Italic *status Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Italic *statujō Proto-Italic *statuō Latin statuō Latin prōstituō Latin prōstitūtusder. English prostitute From Latin prōstitūtus, past participle of prōstituō, from prō̆ (“for, before”) + statuō (“to set up, to erect”).

verb/ˈpɹɒstɪˌtjuːt/Received-Pronunciation[ˈpɹɒstɪtʰjuːt]Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɹɒstɪˌt͡ʃuːt/[ˈpɹɒstɪˌt͡ʃuːt]
  1. To offer (oneself or someone else) for sexual activity in exchange for money.

    reflexive · transitive
  2. To sacrifice (oneself, one's talents etc.) in return for profit or other advantage; to exploit for base purposes.

    derogatory · transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂-tu-s ~ *sth₂-téw-s Proto-Italic *status Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Italic *statujō Proto-Italic *statuō Latin statuō Latin prōstituō Latin prōstitūtusder. English prostitute From Latin prōstitūtus, past participle of prōstituō, from prō̆ (“for, before”) + statuō (“to set up, to erect”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.