n. pl. proth·e·ses (-sēz′) 1. Linguistics The addition of a phoneme or syllable at the beginning of a word, as in Spanish espina, "thorn," from Latin spina. 2. Eastern Orthodox Church a. The preparation of the bread and wine for the Eucharist. b. The table used for this preparation. [Greek, prefixing, from protithenai, prothe-, to put before : pro-, before; see PRO-2 + tithenai, to put; see dhē- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] pro·thetic (prŏ-thĕtĭk) adj. pro·theti·cal·ly adv. |
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