prothesis

/ˈprɑθəsɪs/
noun
  1. An artificial body part that replaces a missing one, such as a limb, eye, or tooth.
    • She learned to walk again with the help of a modern prothesis.
    • After the accident, he was fitted with a leg prothesis.
    • The dentist made a prothesis to replace the missing tooth.
  2. In linguistics, the addition of a sound or syllable to the beginning of a word, often for easier pronunciation.
    • The word 'especial' comes from Latin with a prothesis of 'e-'.
    • Linguists study prothesis to understand how languages change over time.
    • In some dialects, a prothesis adds an 'a' to words like 'scared' making it 'ascared'.