Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗Synonym of prostitute: a person (especially a woman) who offers sexual services for payment. · A person who is sexually promiscuous; a slut. · A person who is unscrupulous, especially one who compromises their principles for gain. · A person who will violate behavioral standards to achieve something desired.
To prostitute oneself. · To engage the services of a prostitute. · To pimp; to pander. · To promote shamelessly.
From Middle English hore, from Old English hōre, from Proto-Germanic *hōrǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ros (“loved”), from *keh₂- (“to wish; desire”). Cognate with Dutch hoer, German Hure, Old Norse hóra as well as Sanskrit चारु (cā́ru, “dear”), Latin cārus (“dear, expensive”), and Irish cara (“friend”). The unetymological spelling with wh- superficially denotes a formerly standard pronunciation with an excrescent /w/ (such as in whole), but such a form is hardly found in either commentators on Early Modern English pronunciations or records of traditional dialects (which both explicitly mention its rarity or absence), therefore leaving the spelling somewhat inexplicable. However, this may be because such an excrescent /w/ was absorbed by a following /uː/ (as in words with etymological /w/ such as whom, two) after it became established in the spelling but before our earliest orthoepic records.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*keh₂-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionhoreenm
- Inherited-form mentionhōreang
- Inherited-form mention*hōrǭgem-pro
- Inherited-form mention*kéh₂rosine-pro · loved
- Cognate mentionhoernl
- Cognate mentionHurede
- Cognate mentionhóranon
- Cognate mentionचारुsa
- Cognate mentioncārusla
- Cognate mentioncaraga
This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:hore"
},
"expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"hōre\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"hore\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"whore\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"whore\">"
},
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*keh₂-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "hore"
},
"expansion": "Middle English hore"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "hōre"
},
"expansion": "Old English hōre"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*hōrǭ"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *hōrǭ"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*kéh₂ros",
"t": "loved"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ros (“loved”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "hoer"
},
"expansion": "Dutch hoer"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Hure"
},
"expansion": "German Hure"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "non",
"2": "hóra"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse hóra"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sa",
"2": "चारु",
"3": "",
"4": "dear",
"tr": "cā́ru"
},
"expansion": "Sanskrit चारु (cā́ru, “dear”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "la",
"2": "cārus",
"3": "",
"4": "dear, expensive"
},
"expansion": "Latin cārus (“dear, expensive”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "ga",
"2": "cara",
"3": "",
"4": "friend"
},
"expansion": "Irish cara (“friend”)"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:hore"
},
"expansion": ""
}
],
"links": [
[
"hore",
"hore#Middle_English"
],
[
"hōre",
"hore#Old_English"
],
[
"*hōrǭ",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hōrǭ"
],
[
"*kéh₂ros",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kéh₂ros"
],
[
"*keh₂-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/keh₂-"
],
[
"hoer",
"hoer#Dutch"
],
[
"Hure",
"Hure#German"
],
[
"hóra",
"hóra#Old_Norse"
],
[
"चारु",
"चारु#Sanskrit"
],
[
"cārus",
"carus#Latin"
],
[
"cara",
"cara#Irish"
],
[
"whole",
"whole#English"
],
[
"whom",
"whom#English"
],
[
"two",
"two#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"Synonym of prostitute: a person (especially a woman) who offers sexual services for payment.",
"A person who is sexually promiscuous; a slut.",
"A person who is unscrupulous, especially one who compromises their principles for gain.",
"A person who will violate behavioral standards to achieve something desired."
],
"tags": [
"derogatory",
"vulgar"
],
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},
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To prostitute oneself.",
"To engage the services of a prostitute.",
"To pimp; to pander.",
"To promote shamelessly."
],
"tags": [
"derogatory",
"intransitive",
"vulgar",
"transitive"
],
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"sourceRecordOrdinal": 161577
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],
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"lexicalSenses": 4,
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}