prothesis

American  

[proth-uh-sis] / ˈprɒθ ə sɪs /

noun

plural

protheses

1. the addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word, as in Spanish escala “ladder” from Latin scala.

2. Eastern Church.

   1. Also called proskomide.  the preparation and preliminary oblation of the Eucharistic elements.

   2. the table on which this is done.

   3. the part of the sanctuary or bema where this table stands.

3. (often initial capital letter) a representation of a dead person lying in state.

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prothesis British  

/ ˈprɒθɪsɪs, prəˈθɛtɪk /

noun

1. a process in the development of a language by which a phoneme or syllable is prefixed to a word to facilitate pronunciation

   Latin ``scala'' gives Spanish ``escala'' by prothesis

2. Eastern Orthodox Church the solemn preparation of the Eucharistic elements before consecration

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Other Word Forms

• prothetic adjective
• prothetically adverb

Etymology

Origin of prothesis

1665–75; < Late Latin < Greek próthesis a putting before. See pro- ², thesis

Example Sentences

The chief executive of the centre, Olga Rudnieva, wants to support the thousands who have lost limbs in the conflict by using a personalised approach to body reconstruction and limb prothesis.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2023

Hall, who had lost a leg in a hunting accident, had a prothesis she called Cuthbert.

From Washington Post • Nov. 17, 2021

“They won’t address my legs and they won’t do prothesis on them and they not paying me for loss of limb.”

From Fox News • Jan. 17, 2020

I've had this prothesis for nearly 10 years now, since my third child, and until now I'd always felt really good about it.

From Reuters • Dec. 26, 2011

"The sensible world is spirit in magnitude outspread before the senses for their analysis, but whose synthesis is the soul herself, whose prothesis is God."

From Transcendentalism in New England A History by Frothingham, Octavius Brooks