prothesis

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒθəsɪs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɔθəsɪs/, /ˈpɹɑθəsɪs/
• Rhymes: -ɒθəsɪs

From Late Latin prothesis, prosthesis, alteration (dropping the ‘s’) from Ancient Greek πρόσθεσις (prósthesis, “addition, augmentation”),^[1][2][3] (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.

prothesis (countable and uncountable, plural protheses)

1. (phonology, rhetoric) 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).

• prosthesis

• aphesis

• paragoge
• epenthesis

• prosthesis

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”).

prothesis (countable and uncountable, plural protheses)

1. (Christianity) The preparation and preliminary oblation of the Eucharistic bread and wine in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.
2. (by extension) Credence table.

• proskomide

• posterish, sophister, storeship

• prosthesis

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πρόσθεσις (prósthesis).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈprɔ.tʰɛ.sɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈprɔː.te.s̬is]

prothesis f (genitive prothesis or protheseōs or prothesios); third declension

1. (New Latin) prothesis

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, i-stem).

¹Found sometimes in Medieval and New Latin.