The word whore arrives in English with a weight of moral judgment, its lineage tracing back to the Old English hōre, often reconstructed from the Proto-Germanic hōrōn, with meanings that circle around desire, adultery, and illicit indulgence, literally “one who desires.” This root is tied to the idea of craving or longing, a primal urge that, over time, became entangled with societal taboos, taking on a more specific sense of sexual commerce and moral judgment, yet it never entirely shook off that original aura of potent, transgressive craving.