Prothesis
/prəˈθiːsɪs/noun
A medical device or artificial replacement for a missing body part; also, a planned addition placed before or in front of something.
Did you know?Prosthetic and prothesis come from the same Greek root meaning “to place,” which also hides in thesis, hypothesis, and synthesis — words about setting things in order.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dheh₁-
“to put, place, set”
Ancient Greek
Greek
πρόθεσις (próthesis)
“a placing before; in grammar, a prefix; in liturgy, the preparation of the Eucharist”
Late Latin
Latin
prothesis
“a setting forth or placing before”
Middle English
English
prothesis
“a placing before; later, a surgical or medical addition”
Modern English
English
prothesis
“an artificial replacement for a missing body part; a planned addition placed before or in front of something”
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