meretrix

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin meretrix

Noun

meretrix

1. A prostitute.

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Latin

Etymology

From mereō (“merit, deserve”) +‎ -trīx. Literally "she who earns".

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈme.re.triːks/, [ˈmɛrɛt̪riːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.re.triks/, [ˈmɛːret̪riks]

Noun

meretrīx f (genitive meretrīcis); third declension

1. (slang) prostitute, female prostitute

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	meretrīx	meretrīcēs
Genitive	meretrīcis	meretrīcum
Dative	meretrīcī	meretrīcibus
Accusative	meretrīcem	meretrīcēs
Ablative	meretrīce	meretrīcibus
Vocative	meretrīx	meretrīcēs

Derived terms

• meretrīcābilis
• meretrīciē
• meretrīcius

• meretrīcor
• meretrīcula

Related terms

• merenda
• merendārius
• merendō
• merēns
• mereō

• meritō
• meritōrium
• meritōrius
• meritum
• meritus

Descendants

• Catalan: meretriu
• Galician: meretriz
• Italian: meretrice
• Old English: myltestre
• Portuguese: meretriz
• Spanish: meretriz

See also

• lēna

References

• “meretrix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “meretrix”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• meretrix in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “meretrix”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers