Latin Profanity - Latin Words Relating To Prostitution

Latin Words Relating To Prostitution

Further information: Prostitution in ancient Rome

Compared to the anatomical frankness of the Roman vocabulary about sexual acts and body parts, the Roman vocabulary relating to prostitution seems euphemistic and metaphorical.

The most unambiguous Latin word for "to prostitute oneself" is scortor, scortārī, which occurs chiefly in Plautus. This word may relate to Latin scorteus, "made of leather or hide", much as English refers to the skin trade; or it may be a pure pejorative related to Greek σκῶρ, σκατός, "shit". Plautus illustrates its use in Amphitryon (play):

Quando mecum pariter potant, pariter scortari solent,
Hanc quidem, quam nactus, praedam pariter cum illis partiam.

("When they go out drinking and whoring, I'll certainly want a piece of that action myself.")

Prostitutes were called meretrīx, "earner", and lupa, "she-wolf"; a brothel was a lupānar; these words referred to the mercantile and perceived predatory activities of prostitutes. The Latin word prōstituō had a root meaning of "to expose for public sale." The word glūbō, glūbere, glūpsī, glūptus meant "to peel", and by extension, "to rob"; it was often used of prostitutes; compare English she took him to the cleaners.

The important and productive words for a prostitute, *puta or *putāna, are not attested in Classical Latin, despite their many Romance derivatives: French putain and pute, Italian puttana, Spanish (and Filipino), Catalan, Portuguese and Galician puta. Under French linguists point of view, they seem to relate to Latin puteō, putēre, "to stink," and thus to represent yet another metaphor.. In Romanian childs' speech, "puţă" means penis or vagina. Spaniards María Moliner (author of the famous dictionary of Spanish) and Joan Coromines think they came from Vulgar Latin putta, feminine form of puttus, superlative (as adjective) form of putus, "pure", "boy". In Portugal, the word puto has the same connotation as "small kid" or "little boy"; in Brazil, nevertheless, it stands as a slang for "pissed off" or enraged males in general or as a colloquial, mildly offensive term for male escorts (more formally called prostitutos or michês) – the male counterpart of the slang puta, with the same meanings, albeit reserved for females.