| History of the term prostate. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 18942121 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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BACKGROUND: We comprehensively review the history of the word "prostate" and related terms from 600 BC to the present. METHODS: Both medical and non-medical ancient texts were searched to clarify the term's etymology and use. Anatomy textbooks of the 16th through the 18th century were analyzed to identify descriptions, illustrations and various expressions used by contemporary authors to designate the prostate. RESULTS: In ancient Greek the masculine term "prostatēs" meant "president" and was exclusively used in a non-medical sense. It was not until the Renaissance that anatomists discovered the organ naming it "glandulous body." In 1600 the French physician du Laurens introduced the metaphoric denomination "prostatae." However he and his contemporaries misinterpreted the history of the organ and the term, choose the wrong gender when translating it into Latin, and believed that it designated a double organ. Only in the 1800s was this anatomical error corrected while the grammatical one lived on. CONCLUSIONS: The history of the term "prostate" is a prime example of the difficulties with which the development of a precise urologic terminology had to struggle. At the same time this retrospective view provides a stimulus to avoid linguistic ambiguity in the future. |
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Authors:
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Franz Josef Marx; Axel Karenberg |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Historical Article; Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: The Prostate Volume: 69 ISSN: 1097-0045 ISO Abbreviation: Prostate Publication Date: 2009 Feb |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2008-12-29 Completed Date: 2009-01-26 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 8101368 Medline TA: Prostate Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 208-13 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Institute for the History of Medicine and Medical Ethics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. |
Export Citation:
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APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Dissection France Greece History, 17th Century History, 18th Century History, 19th Century History, 20th Century History, 21st Century History, Ancient History, Medieval Humans Male Prostate / anatomy & histology* Terminology as Topic* Urology / history |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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