Meanings
prothesis1
plural protheses
- countablerhetoricuncountablehuman sciencesThe 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).
Synonyms: prosthesis
prothesis2
plural protheses
- countableuncountableChristianityThe preparation and preliminary oblation of the Eucharistic bread and wine in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches.
- broadlycountableuncountableCredence table.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe 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).
Origin
prothesis · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*próti
- Ancient Greekπρόσθεσις“addition, augmentation”
- Late Latinprothesis
- Englishprothesis
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.
More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →prothesis · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*pro-
- Ancient Greekπρόθεσις“a preposing”
- Englishprothesis
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”).
More words from Ancient Greek, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic إِبْدَاء
- إِبْدَاء (ʔibdāʔ)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
Bulgarian протеза
- протеза (proteza)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
Catalan pròtesi
- pròtesithe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Danish protese
- protesethe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Dutch prosthesis
- prosthesisthe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Finnish proteesi
- proteesithe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
French prothèse
- prothèsethe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
German Prothese, Prosthese
- Prothesethe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
- Prosthesethe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Greek πρόσθεση
- πρόσθεση (prósthesi)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
Hungarian protézis
- protézisthe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Irish próistéis
- próistéisthe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Italian prostesi
- prostesithe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Persian پیشهشت
- پیشهشت (piš-hašt, piš-hešt)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
Portuguese prótese
- prótesethe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Russian проте́за
- проте́за (protɛ́za)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
Spanish prótesis, próstesis
- prótesisthe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
- próstesisthe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Ukrainian протеза
- протеза (protéza)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
Welsh rhagosodiad
- rhagosodiadthe addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with prothesis
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
prothesis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prothesis
“prothesis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prothesis. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prothesis,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prothesis.
Source: prothesis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.