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Prothesis

//ˈpɹɔθəsɪs// noun

Definitions

Noun

1
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). countable, uncountable
2
The preparation and preliminary oblation of the Eucharistic bread and wine in the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. countable, uncountable
3
Credence table. broadly, countable, uncountable

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Late Latin prothesis, prosthesis, alteration (dropping the ‘s’) from Ancient Greek πρόσθεσις (prósthesis, “addition, augmentation”), (English prosthesis) from προστίθημι (prostíthēmi, “I add”), from πρός (prós, “towards”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “I 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.

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek πρόθεσις (próthesis, “a preposing”), from προτίθημι (protíthēmi, “I prepose”), from πρό (pró, “before”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “I place”), from Proto-Indo-European *pro + *dʰédʰeh₁ti (“to be putting, to be placing”).

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