prostitution

Etymology

From Late Latin prostitutio.

noun

1. Engaging in sexual activity with another person for pay.
   Her addiction brought her to the point that prostitution was the only means she had to survive.
   The FBI typically does not investigate adult prostitution, leaving it as a state and local matter, but in recent years it has made child prostitution a priority in a program the FBI calls Operation Cross Country. The program includes highway billboards asking people to call the FBI with tips. 2013-07-29, David Ingram (reporting for Reuters), Howard Goller, Bill Trott (editing for Reuters), “FBI arrests 150 in three days in sex-trafficking sweep”, in news.yahoo.com, retrieved 2013-07-29
2. (by extension) Engaging in sexual activity with another person in exchange for goods (not necessarily money) or services.
3. (by extension) Debasement for profit or impure motives.
   The television advertising job was a prostitution of the talents of one of the great writers of the century.