English Explanatory Dictionary

seraglio

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A palace of a sultan.
  2. The palace of the Grand Seignior in Constantinople.
  3. A profligate or decadent residence of a rich person.
  4. The sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines (odalisques) in a Turkish Muslim household.
  5. A brothel or place of debauchery.
  6. An interior cage or enclosed courtyard for keeping wild beasts.

Pronunciation

/səˈɹæljoʊ/ /səˈɹæɡliːoʊ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-seraglio.wav

Word forms

seraglio seraglios serraglio

Etymology

From Italian serraglio, from Vulgar Latin *serrāculum, from a late form of Latin serāre (“lock up, close”), from sera (“lock, bolt”). The Italian word was used (because of phonetic similarity) to translate Turkish saray (“palace”). Compare serai, serail.

Translations

Bulgarian: сарай Bulgarian: харем Catalan: serrall Esperanto: serajlo French: sérail German: Serail Hungarian: szeráj Italian: serraglio Japanese: 後宮 Macedonian: сарај Polish: seraj Portuguese: serralho Romanian: serai Serbo-Croatian: са̀рај Serbo-Croatian: sàraj Spanish: serrallo Swedish: seralj Turkish: saray Ottoman Turkish: سرای
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