Prostitute - Wiktionary

See also: prostitutė and prostitutę

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:prostituteWikipedia

Etymology

From Latin prōstitūtus, past participle of prōstituō, from prō̆ (“for, before”) +‎ statuō (“to set up, to erect”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɒstɪtjuːt/, /ˈpɹɒstɪtʃuːt/
• (US) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɑːstətuːt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

prostitute (comparative more prostitute, superlative most prostitute)

1. (obsolete) Debased, corrupt; seeking personal gain by dishonourable means. [16th–19th c.]
   • 1791, Thomas Paine, Rights of Man:[H]e speaks a languages that merits not reply, and which can only excite contempt for his prostitute principles, or pity for his ignorance.
2. Taking part in promiscuous sexual activity, licentious; (later, chiefly as attributive use of noun) that is a prostitute. [from 16th c.]
   • 2008, Niki Adams, Lisa Longstaff, The Guardian, letters, 23 February:They rightly say that attacks against prostitute women are common and that it's only when five are murdered in one place that it starts to provoke debate.
3. (obsolete) Exposed, subjected (to something shameful). [16th–18th c.]
   • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, Philosophicall rudiments concerning government and society:As a matter of ease, exposed and prostitute to every Mother-wit, and to be attained without any great care or study.

Noun

prostitute (plural prostitutes)

1. Any person (especially a woman) who has sexual intercourse or engages in other sexual activity for payment, especially as a means of livelihood. [from 18th c.] Synonyms: sex worker; see also Thesaurus:prostitute Hyponyms: see Thesaurus:prostitute
2. A woman who has sexual intercourse or engages in other sexual activity for payment, especially as a means of livelihood. [from 17th c.]
   • 2012, Kelly Olson, Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-Presentation and Society, page 50:Unfortunately, there is to my knowledge no visual evidence for the dress of the Roman prostitute, but the literary sources present us with a range of prostitute clothing (from rich accoutrements all the way down to nothing), […]
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. [from 17th c.] Synonym: sellout
   • 2019 May 18, Jack Shepherd, quoting Bobby Gillespie, “Primal Scream frontman calls Madonna a 'total prostitute' for performing at Eurovision in Israel”, in The Independent‎[1]:Madonna would do anything for money, you know, she's a total prostitute. And I've got nothing against prostitutes.

Usage notes

• Some speakers consider prostitutes (sex workers) to be female by default, and thus use male prostitute to refer to a male performing the same job.

Synonyms

• Thesaurus:prostitute

Derived terms

• antiprostitute
• biostitute
• intellectual prostitute
• lacrosstitute
• nonprostitute
• presstitute
• proselytute
• prostibot
• prostitot
• Rastitute
• sorostitute
• temple prostitute

Translations

	A user suggests that this English entry be cleaned up, giving the reason: “split by senses (any person / female person; possible move some incorrect translations to e.g. manwhore)”.
	Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup(+) or the talk page for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.

a person having sex for profit

Afrikaans: prostituut (af) Albanian: prostitutë (sq) f, kurvë f (vulgar) Antillean Creole: bòbò, piten, rat dalo, manawa, madigwann, matabwa, zòtòbré, madrébòl, sangann Arabic: دَاعِرَة f (dāʕira), بَغِيَّة f (baḡiyya), عَاهِرَة f (ʕāhira), زَانِيَّة (ar) f (zāniyya), قَحْبَة f (qaḥba) Armenian: պոռնիկ (hy) (poṙnik), պոռնկուհի (poṙnkuhi), մարմնավաճառ (hy) (marmnavačaṙ), մարմնավաճառուհի (hy) (marmnavačaṙuhi), (vulgar) բոզ (hy) (boz) Asturian: prostitutu m, prostituta f Azerbaijani: fahişə, qəhbə Bashkir: фәхишә (fəxişə), уйнашсы (uynaşsı) Basque: prostituta (eu) Belarusian: прастыту́тка f (prastytútka), (vulgar) ку́рва f (kúrva) Bengali: বেশ্যা (bn) (beśśa) Breton: gast (br) f Bulgarian: проститу́тка (bg) f (prostitútka), (vulgar) ку́рва (bg) f (kúrva), жиголо m (žigolo) Burmese: ပြည့်တန်ဆာ (my) (prany.tanhca), ဇိမ်မယ် (my) (jimmai), အပြာမယ် (my) (a.pramai) Catalan: prostitut (ca) m, prostituta (ca) f Chinese: Hokkien: 婊仔, 婊, 水貨 / 水货 (zh-min-nan), 雞 / 鸡 (zh-min-nan), 趁食查某 (zh-min-nan), 菜店查某 (zh-min-nan), 歹查某, 摃婆 / 𫼱婆, 姣查某, 漚查某 / 沤查某, 漚摃 / 沤𫼱, 姣婊 Mandarin: 妓女 (zh) (jìnǚ) (female; formal), 妓男 (zh) (jìnán) (male; formal), 雞 / 鸡 (zh) (jī) (female; slang), 鴨 / 鸭 (zh) (yā) (male; slang), 雞婆 / 鸡婆 (zh) (jīpó) (vulgar), 娼妓 (zh) (chāngjì) (archaic), 風塵女 / 风尘女 (fēngchénnǚ) (archaic) Czech: prostitutka (cs) f, (vulgar) kurva (cs) f Danish: prostitueret (da) c (derogatory), ludder (da) c (female, derogatory), glædespige c (female), trækkerdreng (male gay), skøge c (archaic, derogatory), sexsælger c, sexarbejder c, hore c Dutch: prostituee (nl) f (female), prostituée (nl) f (female, official spelling before 1996), prostitué (nl) m (male), hoer (nl) f (vulgar) Esperanto: prostituito (male or female), prostituitino (female), ĉiesulo (eo) (male or female, pejorative), ĉiesulino (eo) (female, pejorative), amoristo (male or female), amoristino (female), sinvendisto (male or female), sinvendistino (female) Estonian: prostituut, hoor Ewe: ahasi, gbolo Faroese: skøkja f Finnish: prostituoitu (fi); huora (fi), hutsu (fi), ilotyttö (fi) (female), seksityöläinen (fi) French: prostitué (fr) m, prostituée (fr) f, fille des rues f, fille de joie (fr) f Galician: prostituto (gl) m, prostituta (gl) f, puta (gl) f (vulgar) Georgian: სექს-მუშაკი (seks-mušaḳi), მეძავი (meʒavi) (mildly vulgar), ბოზი (ka) (bozi) (vulgar), როსკიპი (rosḳiṗi) (vulgar), German: Prostituierter (de) m, Prostituierte (de) f Greek: πόρνη (el) f (pórni) Ancient: πόρνη f (pórnē), πόρνος m (pórnos) Hausa: karuwa (ha) Hebrew: זוֹנָה (he) f (zoná), זוֹנֶה (he) m (zoné) Hindi: वेश्या (hi) f (veśyā), गणिका (hi) f (gaṇikā), पतिता f (patitā), कसबी (hi) f (kasbī), पतुरिया (hi) f (paturiyā), रंडी (hi) f (raṇḍī), फ़ाहिशा f (fāhiśā), वारांगना (hi) f (vārāṅgnā), ख़ानगी f (xāngī) Hungarian: prostituált (hu), prosti (hu) f or örömlány (hu) f Icelandic: vændiskona f, skækja f, gleðikona f, hóra (is) f Ido: prostituco (io) Indonesian: pekerja seks komersial (literal meaning: "commercial sex worker"), PSK, lonte (id), pelacur (id) Ingrian: hoora, kurva (vulgar), bläädi (vulgar) Irish: striapach (ga) f, meirdreach f, bean sráide f (euphemism), bean choiteann f, eachlach f (literary) Italian: prostituta (it) f, squillo (it) f, battona (it) f, puttana (it) f, baldracca (it) f, sgualdrina (it) f, pandemia (it) f (literary) Japanese: 売春婦 (ja) (ばいしゅんふ, baishunfu), 娼婦 (ja) (しょうふ, shōfu), 街娼 (ja) (がいしょう, gaishō) Kalmyk: ямхн (yamxn), яңхн (yañxn) Kazakh: жәлеп (jälep), жезөкше (jezökşe), ойнасқор (oinasqor), салдақы (saldaqy) Khmer: ស្រីខូច (srəy khouc), ពេស្យា (km) (peihsyaa) Korean: 매춘부(賣春婦) (ko) (maechunbu), 창녀(娼女) (ko) (changnyeo), 갈보 (ko) (galbo) (uncommon), 논다니 (ko) (nondani) (uncommon), 가창(街娼) (ko) (gachang) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: qehbe (ku) Kyrgyz: проститутка (prostitutka), сойку (ky) (soyku), жалап (ky) (jalap) Lao: ກາລີ (kā lī); ຄະນິກາ (kha ni kā); ໂສເພນີ (sō phē nī); ບຸຣະນາຣີ (bu ra nā rī), ບຸລະນາລີ (bu la nā lī); ເພດສຍາ (phēt sa nyā), ແພດສຍາ (phǣt sa nyā), ແພດສະຫຍາ (phǣt sa nyā); ແມ່ຄຳຮາງ (mǣ kham hāng), ແມ່ຈ້າງ (mǣ chāng), ແມ່ເລງ (mǣ lēng), ເວສິຍາ (wē si nyā) Latin: spintria m, meretrix (la) f, scortum n Latvian: prostitūta f Lithuanian: prostitutė f Luhya: mng'ang'ule, mng'ang'ule Macedonian: проститу́тка f (prostitútka), курва f (kurva) (vulgar) Malay: pelacur (ms) Malayalam: വേശ്യ (ml) (vēśya) Maltese: prostituta f, prostitut m, qaħba f, ġerrej m Manx: streebagh f, strumpag f, oainjyr f, ben oainjyragh f Maori: kairau, wahine tīweka (female), tāne tīweka (male), karihika Marathi: वेश्या f (veśyā) Mongolian: Cyrillic: янхан эмэгтэй (janxan emegtej), хөлсний этгээд (xölsnii etgeed) Nahuatl: ahuiyani Norman: prostituée f Norwegian: Bokmål: prostituert (no) m Occitan: prostituta f Old Church Slavonic: please add this translation if you can Old East Slavic: курва f (kurva) Old English: portcwene f, myltestre f, hore f Papiamentu: mohé di bida Pashto: فاحشه (ps) f (fāheša) Persian: Iranian Persian: روسْپی (ruspi), تَن‌فُروش (tan-foruš), فاحِشِه (fâheše), جِنْدِه (jende) (vulgar), قَحْبِه (ġahbe) Plautdietsch: Hua f, Zelj f Polish: prostytutka (pl) f, męska prostytutka (pl) m, (vulgar) kurwa (pl) f Portuguese: prostituta (pt) f, mulher da vida (pt) f Romani: please add this translation if you can Romanian: prostituată (ro) f, curvă (ro) f (vulgar), târfă (ro) f (vulgar) Russian: проститу́тка (ru) f (prostitútka), шлю́ха (ru) f (šljúxa) (vulgar), блядь (ru) f (bljadʹ) (vulgar), ку́рва (ru) f (kúrva) (vulgar) Sanskrit: वेश्या (sa) f (veśyā), रूपाजीवा (sa) f (rūpājīvā), गणिका (sa) f (gaṇikā) Scottish Gaelic: siùrsach f, strìopach (gd) f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: про̀ститӯтка f, ку̑рва f Roman: pròstitūtka (sh) f, kȗrva (sh) f Sicilian: buttana (scn) f, stuppagghiara f, tappinara f, prustitutu m Slovak: prostitútka (sk) f, kurva f, cundra (sk) f Slovene: prostitutka (sl) f, (vulgar) kurba (sl) f Spanish: prostituto (es) m Swahili: malaya (sw) class 9/10, kahaba (sw), changudoa (sw), kiberenge (sw) Swedish: prostituerad (sv) c, hora (sv) c Tajik: фоҳиша (tg) (fohiša), қаҳба (qahba), рӯспӣ (rüspi), рӯсбӣ (rüsbi) Tatar: фәхишә (tt) (fäxişä) Telugu: వేశ్య (te) (vēśya) Thai: โสเภณี (th) (sǒo-pee-nii), แพศยา (th) (pɛ̂ɛt-sà-yǎa) Tibetan: གཞང་ཚོང་མ (gzhang tshong ma) Tigrinya: ፋይቶት (ti) (faytot), ኣመንዝራ (ʾamänzəra) Turkish: orospu (tr), fahişe (tr), hayat kadını (tr), orta malı (tr), paçoz (tr), sürtük (tr), seks işçisi (tr), kevaşe (tr), nataşa (tr) (slur), kahpe (tr) Turkmen: jelep Ukrainian: проститу́тка (uk) f (prostytútka), пові́я (uk) f (povíja), (vulgar) шлю́ха (uk) f (šljúxa), (vulgar) ку́рва (uk) f (kúrva) Urdu: ویشیا f (veśyā), فاحِشَہ f (fāhiśa), رَنْڈی (ur) f (ranḍī), قَحْبَہ f (qahba), زانِیَہ f (zāniya), بیسْوا f (besvā), کَسْبِی f (kasbī), پَتُرِیا f (paturiyā), خانْگی f (xāngī) Uyghur: پاھىشە (pahishe), جالاپ (jalap) Uzbek: fohisha (uz), buzuq (uz) Vietnamese: đĩ (vi), điếm, gái mại dâm (vi) Volapük: (♂♀) prostitan, (♂) hiprostitan, (♀) jiprostitan, (♂♀) nepuedan (vo), (♂) hinepuedan (vo), (♀) jinepuedan (vo) Welsh: putain (cy) f Yiddish: זונה f (zoyne), הור f (hur)

a female person having sex for profit

Antillean Creole: bòbò, fimèl-kòch, manawa, piten, kòch, bwètakal Bulgarian: проститутка (bg) f (prostitutka) Finnish: ilotyttö (fi) German: Prostituierte (de) f, Hure (de) f, Nutte (de) f, Dirne (de) f, Lustdirne f, Buhldirne, Gunstgewerblerin f (humorous), Liebesdame f, Liebesmädchen n, Freudenmädchen (de) n (euphemistic) Latin: meretrix (la) f, scortum n, nōnāria f, lupānāria f (Mediaeval), lupa f (slang) Old Church Slavonic: please add this translation if you can Old Norse: hóra f, portkona f Plautdietsch: Hua f Polish: prostytutka (pl) f Spanish: prostituta (es) f, camona f (Puerto Rico), gamberra (es) f, jalona (es) f (derogatory), yira (es) f (derogatory), yiro (es) m (derogatory), pupis f (El Salvador)

promiscuous person — see whore,‎ slut

Verb

prostitute (third-person singular simple present prostitutes, present participle prostituting, simple past and past participle prostituted)

1. (transitive, reflexive) To offer (oneself or someone else) for sexual activity in exchange for money. [from 16th c.]
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus xix:29:Do not prostitute thy daughter.
2. (transitive, derogatory) To sacrifice (oneself, one's talents etc.) in return for profit or other advantage; to exploit for base purposes.
   • 1740, John Dyer, “The Ruins of Rome. A Poem.”, in Poems. [...] Viz. I. Grongar Hill. II. The Ruins of Rome. III. The Fleece, in Four Books, London: Printed by John Hughs, for Messrs. R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1759, →OCLC, pages 42–43:[T]heſe, their rights / In the vile ſtreets they proſtitute to ſale; / Their ancient rights, their dignities, their laws, / Their native glorious freedom.

Synonyms

• (to offer oneself for sexual activity for money): sell one's body, turn tricks; see also Thesaurus:prostitute oneself
• (to offer another person for sexual activity for money): pimp; see also Thesaurus:pimp out
• (to use one's talents for money): sell out

Derived terms

• prostitutable
• prostitutor
• unprostituted

Related terms

• prostitution

Translations

reflexive: to perform sexual activity for money

Antillean Creole: fè bòbò, fè fimèl-kòch, fè manawa, fè manawa, fè matabwa, ay Karénaj Arabic: دَعِرَ (daʕira), بَغَى (baḡā) Bulgarian: проституирам (prostituiram) Catalan: prostituir-se Chinese: Mandarin: 賣淫 / 卖淫 (zh) (màiyín), 賣春 / 卖春 (zh) (màichūn) Danish: prostituere (da), prostituere sig Finnish: myydä itseään, myydä seksiä; huorata (fi) (degrading) French: se prostituer (fr) Galician: prostituírse (gl) German: sich prostituieren (de), anschaffen (de) Greek: εκπορνεύομαι (el) (ekpornévomai) Hungarian: prostituál (hu) Ingrian: hooriissa, bläättiä (vulgar) Italian: prostituirsi (it), battere il marciapiede, battere (it) Latvian: prostituēties Macedonian: се проституи́ра (se prostituíra), се ку́рва (se kúrva) (vulgar) Norwegian: prostituere Persian: روسپی‌گری (ruspi-gari), تن‌فروشی (tan-foruši), فاحشه‌گی (fâheše-gi) Polish: prostytuować się impf, sprostytuować się pf Portuguese: prostituir-se Romanian: se prostitua (ro) Russian: занима́ться проститу́цией impf (zanimátʹsja prostitúcijej) Sicilian: buttanijari Spanish: prostituirse (es) Swahili: ukahaba (sw) Swedish: prostituera (sv)

to make another person, or organisation, prostitute themselves

Bulgarian: своднича (svodniča) Danish: tvinge ind i prostitution Finnish: saattaa häpeään (Lev. 19:29); prostituoida Galician: prostituír (gl) German: prostituieren (de) Greek: εκπορνεύω (el) (ekpornévo) Latin: prōstituō (la) Latvian: prostituēt Macedonian: проституи́ра (prostituíra) Polish: prostytuować impf, sprostytuować pf Portuguese: prostituir (pt) Romanian: prostitua (ro) Spanish: prostituir (es) Swahili: ukahaba (sw)

derogatory: to use one's talents in return for money or fame

Bulgarian: проституирам (prostituiram) Danish: sælge sig selv Finnish: huorata (fi) Galician: prostituír (gl) Polish: prostytuować się impf, sprostytuować się pf Portuguese: prostituir (pt) Spanish: prostituir (es)

figuratively: to exploit for base purposes

Bulgarian: проституирам (prostituiram) Finnish: raiskata (fi), prostituoida, käyttää hyväksi Galician: prostituír (gl) Polish: prostytuować impf, sprostytuować pf Portuguese: prostituir (pt) Spanish: prostituir (es)

Afrikaans

Noun

prostitute

1. plural of prostituut

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /pros.tiˈtu.te/
• Rhymes: -ute
• Hyphenation: pro‧sti‧tù‧te

Noun

prostitute f

1. plural of prostituta

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [proːs.tɪˈtuː.tɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [pros.tiˈtuː.te]

Participle

prōstitūte

1. vocative masculine singular of prōstitūtus