prothesis
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prothesis¹
- /ˈpɹɒθəsɪs/ UK
- /ˈpɹɔθəsɪs/ US
- /ˈpɹɑθəsɪs/ US
Rhymes with -ɒθəsɪs
Where it comes from
From Late Latin prothesis, prosthesis, alteration (dropping the ‘s’) from Ancient Greek πρόσθεσις (prósthesis, “addition, augmentation”), (English prosthesis) from προστίθημι (prostíthēmi, “to add”), from πρός (prós, “towards”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to place”), from Proto-Indo-European *próti, *préti + *dʰédʰeh₁- (“to be putting, to be placing”).
However, often confused for a descendant of the Ancient Greek word πρόθεσις (próthesis, “a preposing, preposition”) (without the σ (s)), which is instead the source of a different term – see alternative etymology, below.
noun protheses
-
The prepending of phonemes at the beginning of a word without changing its morphological structure, as in Spanish esfera from Greek (via Latin) sphaera (“sphere”) (without prothesis the word would have become *sfera).
Similar: prosthesis
Opposite: aphesis
prothesis²
- /ˈpɹɒθəsɪs/ UK
- /ˈpɹɔθəsɪs/ US
- /ˈpɹɑθəsɪs/ US
Rhymes with -ɒθəsɪs
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek πρόθεσις (próthesis, “a preposing”), from προτίθημι (protíthēmi, “to prepose”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “to place”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro- + *dʰédʰeh₁ti (“to be putting, to be placing”).
noun protheses
- The preparation and preliminary oblation of the Eucharistic bread and wine in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.
- Credence table.
Similar: proskomide
Thesaurus
noun
Opposite: aphesis
noun
Similar: proskomide
Translations
Every language
noun the addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
| Español | prótesis, próstesis |
|---|---|
| Português | prótese |
| Français | prothèse |
| Deutsch | Prothese, Prosthese |
| Italiano | prostesi |
| Ελληνικά | πρόσθεση prósthesi |
| Русский | проте́за protɛ́za |
| العربية | إِبْدَاء ʔibdāʔ |
Talk about this word "prothesis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prothesis. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. prothesis. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prothesis "prothesis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prothesis.Cite this
@misc{prothesis_2026,
title = {prothesis},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prothesis},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
