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Prostitution is referred to as the oldest profession, but the German word "Prostituierte" is a borrowing that started being used in the German language around I would like to know what the prostitutes were most commonly called in Germany before. My question is this: What are the main German words or short expressions used before for women who regularly engage in sexual activity for payment?
I did my own research and found the words "Nutte" and "Hure," but I am not satisfied. The word "Nutte" originated in the late s , after the word "Prostituierte" was borrowed. The wikipedia site on medieval prostitution lists as terms for prostitutes in medieval sources:. Luther uses "Hure" in the first German translation of the bible:.
The Constitution Criminalis Theresiana also uses "Hure":. Whereas against the third kind of whores, and common procurers? Third: If it becomes apparent that a lewd and shameless hag has led the whore's life for some time, and has made a trade of it. Note both the pejorative language that is used for professional prostitutes, and that prostitution is a delict that is to be punished by "empfindlicher Leibsstrafe" corporeal punishment and expulsion from the place of jurisdiction. From wikipedia :.
Note that the Bible translation by Luther version from zeno. There's Dirne and, more specifically, Lustdirne which doesn't seem as derogatory as Hure but underwent pejoration over the centuries. The Wikipedia article Prostitution im Mittelalter mentions a few other words like meretrix , but it's possible that there simply wasn't a respectful designation, since historically, prostitution was always stigmatized in Germany. Home Questions Tags Users Unanswered.
