whore

whore
{{11}}whore (n.) O.E. hore "prostitute, harlot," from P.Gmc. *khoraz (fem. *khoron-) "one who desires" (Cf. O.N. hora "adulteress," Dan. hore, Swed. hora, Du. hoer, O.H.G. huora "whore;" in Gothic only in the masc. hors "adulterer, fornicator," also as a verb, horinon "commit adultery"), from PIE *qar-, a base that has produced words in other languages for "lover" (Cf. L. carus "dear;" O.Ir. cara "friend;" O.Pers. kama "desire;" Skt. Kama, name of the Hindu god of love, kamah "love, desire," the first element in KAMA SUTRA (Cf. Kama Sutra)).
Whore itself is perhaps a Germanic euphemism for a word that has not survived. Some equivalent words in other languages also derive from sources not originally pejorative, e.g. perhaps O.Fr. pute, perhaps lit. "girl," fem. of V.L. *puttus (but perhaps rather from L. putidus "stinking;" see POONTANG (Cf. poontang)). Welsh putain "whore" is from French, probably via Middle English. Cf. also Bohemian nevestka, dim. of nevesta "bride." And Du. deern, Ger. dirne originally "girl, lass, wench." Among other languages, Gk. porne "prostitute" is related to pernemi "sell," with an original notion, probably of a female slave sold for prostitution; L. meretrix is lit. "one who earns wages" (source of Ir. mertrech, O.E. miltestre "whore, prostitute").
The vulgar Roman word was scortum, lit. "skin, hide." Another term was lupa, lit. "she-wolf" (preserved in Sp. loba, It. lupa, Fr. louve; see WOLF (Cf. wolf)). And of course there was prostituta, lit. "placed in front," thus "publicly exposed," from the fem. pp. of prostituere (see PROSTITUTE (Cf. prostitute)). Another O.N. term was skækja, which yielded Dan. skège, Swed. sköka; probably from M.L.G. schoke, which is perhaps from schode "foreskin of a horse's penis," perhaps with the sense of "skin" (Cf. L. scortum) or perhaps via an intermediary sense of "vagina." Sp. ramera, Port. ramiera are from fem. form of ramero "young bird of prey," lit. "little branch," from ramo "branch." Breton gast is cognate with Welsh gast "bitch," of uncertain origin. Cf. also STRUMPET (Cf. strumpet), HARLOT (Cf. harlot).
O.C.S. ljubodejica is from ljuby dejati "fornicate," a compound from ljuby "love" + dejati "put, perform." Rus. bljad "whore" derives from O.C.S. bladinica, from bladu "fornication." Pol. nierzД…dnica is lit. "disorderly woman." Skt. vecya is a derivation of veca- "house, dwelling," especially "house of ill-repute, brothel." Another term, pumccali, means lit. "one who runs after men." Avestan jahika is lit. "woman," but only of evil creatures; another term is kunairi, from pejorative prefix ku- + nairi "woman." The wh- spelling became current 16c. A general term of abuse from at least 13c. Whore of Babylon is from Rev. xvii:1, 5, etc.
{{12}}whore (v.) "to have to do with whores," 1580s, from WHORE (Cf. whore) (n.). Related: Whored; whoring.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Whore — Whore, v. t. To corrupt by lewd intercourse; to make a whore of; to debauch. [R.] Congreve. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Whore — Whore, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Whored}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Whoring}.] [Cf. Icel. h?ra. See {Whore}, n.] [1913 Webster] 1. To have unlawful sexual intercourse; to practice lewdness. [1913 Webster] 2. (Script.) To worship false and impure gods. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • whore — whore·dom; whore·son; whore; …   English syllables

  • whore — (hôr) n. 1) A prostitute. 2) Often Offensive A person considered sexually promiscuous. 3) A person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain. intr.v. whored, whor·ing, whores 1) To associate or have sexual relations with pros …   Word Histories

  • whore — [hôr; ] occas. [ ho͞or, hoor] n. [ME hore < OE < or akin to ON hora < IE base * kā , to like, be fond of, desire > L carus, dear, precious, Latvian kārs, lecherous] 1. PROSTITUTE 2. any woman who engages in promiscuous sexual… …   English World dictionary

  • Whore — (h[=o]r), n. [OE. hore, AS. h[=o]re; akin to D. hoer, hoere, G. hure, OHG. huora, huorra, Icel. h[=o]ra, Dan. hore, Sw. hora, Goth. h[=o]rs an adulterer, AS. h[=o]r adultery, OHG. huor, and probably to L. carus dear. Cf. {Charity}.] A woman who… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • whore — [ho: US ho:r] n informal [: Old English; Origin: hore] 1.) taboo an offensive word for a woman who has many sexual partners. Do not use this word. 2.) a female ↑prostitute …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • whore — [n] prostitute call girl, escort, fallen woman, harlot, hooker*, hustler, lady of the evening*, pro*, slut, streetwalker, strumpet, tramp, working girl*; concept 412 …   New thesaurus

  • whore — ► NOUN derogatory ▪ a prostitute or promiscuous woman. ► VERB 1) work as a prostitute. 2) use the services of prostitutes. DERIVATIVES whorish adjective. ORIGIN Old English …   English terms dictionary

  • Whore — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Die Hure Originaltitel: Whore Produktionsland: USA Erscheinungsjahr: 1990 Länge: 85 Minuten Originalsprache: englisch Altersfreiga …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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