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prostituir

to prostitute

verb prohs-tee-TWEER Rare
People & Society Crime

Origin: From Latin prostituere (to expose publicly, to offer for sale).

Usage Note

Prostituir is an irregular verb conjugated like huir: it inserts a y before endings that begin with a, e, or o (prostituye, prostituyeron). It is used both literally and figuratively (prostituir el arte, to prostitute art, meaning to debase it for commercial gain). The reflexive prostituirse means to sell oneself. The noun prostitución and the agent noun prostituto/a share the same root.

Examples

"La novela denuncia cómo la guerra prostituye los valores humanos."

Natural Translation

The novel denounces how war prostitutes human values.

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