What does "prolapse" mean?

A moving out of place, especially a protrusion of an internal organ.

What is a synonym for "prolapse"?

Common synonyms include: descensus, prolapsus, prolapsus.

//ˈpɹoʊlæps// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A moving out of place, especially a protrusion of an internal organ. countable, uncountable
2
the slipping or falling out of place of an organ (as the uterus) wordnet

Verb

1
To move out of place; especially for an internal organ to protrude beyond its normal position. intransitive
2
slip or fall out of place, as of body parts wordnet

"Uterine prolapse is when the uterus drops towards or through the vaginal opening as a consequence of weak supporting ligaments."

Learned borrowing from Latin prolapsus.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.