harem

See also: hárem, harém, and Harem

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram)bor.
Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem)bor.
English harem

    Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem) (whence Turkish harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram, “something prohibited; sanctuary, women”); and later also from حَرِيم (ḥarīm) with same meaning, both from حَرُمَ (ḥaruma, “be forbidden or unlawful”). Doublet of haram and herem.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    harem (countable and uncountable, plural harems)

    1. The private section of a Muslim household forbidden to male strangers. [from 1841]
      • 1841, James Justinian Morier, The Mirza, volume 3, page 153:
        "In the room next to her own, lived the harem of a merchant who had just arrived from Constantinople with merchandise. It consisted of his wife, children, and two female slaves, who being well off in their circumstances, enjoyed the comforts and conveniences of life, and eat and drank unsparingly every day."
    2. A group of someone's girlfriends, wives and/or concubines in a polygamous household.
    3. A group of female animals (cows) herded and controlled by a male animal (bull) of that species for breeding purposes. Such behaviour is exhibited by bovids including cattle and buffalo as well as moose, elephants, seals (including elephant seals), sea lions, and baboons. [from 1911]
      • 1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:
        I nodded my head and proceeded to make a flank attack on the nearest harem. All went well until I aimed a blow at an outlying cow's head and fell short. She snorted and tried to scramble away. I ran in close and struck another blow, hitting the shoulder instead of the head.
      • 2006 Maestripieri, Dario; Mayhew, Jessica; Carlson, Cindy L.; Hoffman, Christy L.; and Radtke, Jennifer M. "One-Male Harems and Female Social Dynamics in Guinea Baboons", published in Folia Primatol 2007; 78:56–68, doi 10.1159/000095686
    4. (ornithology) A group of female birds mated to or associated with a breeding male.
      • 1886, Peter Christen Asbj&oslash￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 90:
        In the meantime we were hidden in a close juniper thicket on the little knoll, and expected the capercailzie cock every moment; but our old friend tarried a long time in his harem.
    5. (slang) Any significant number of women together as a group; a bevy.
    6. (uncountable) A genre of anime and manga in which a man is the love interest of three or more women.

    Hyponyms

    • (private area for wives, women thus kept): zenana (Indian contexts)

    Derived terms

    Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    See also

    Anagrams

    Catalan

    Etymology

    Borrowed from French harem, from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram, “something prohibited; sanctuary, women”). Doublet of haram.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    harem m (plural harems)

    1. harem

    See also

    Further reading

    Dutch

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم, from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈɦaː.rəm/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: ha‧rem

    Noun

    harem m (plural harems, diminutive harempje n)

    1. harem (private part of an Arab house, esp. the women's quarters)
      Synonym: haremverblijf
    2. harem (group of female partners in a polygamous household)
    3. harem (group of female animals belonging to one male)

    Hypernyms

    • vrouwenverblijf
    • vrouwenvertrek

    Derived terms

    • harembroek
    • haremdame
    • haremeunuch
    • haremvrouw
    • haremwachter

    French

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    harem m (plural harems)

    1. harem

    Further reading

    Indonesian

    Etymology

    From Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem) (Modern Turkish harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram, “something prohibited; sanctuary, women”); and later also from حَرِيم (ḥarīm) with same meaning, both from حَرُمَ (ḥaruma, “be forbidden or unlawful”). Doublet of haram.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ˈharəm]
    • Rhymes: -rəm, -əm, -m
    • Hyphenation: ha‧rêm

    Noun

    harêm (plural harem-harem)

    1. harem:
      1. the private section of an Arab household, traditionally forbidden to male strangers
      2. a group of someone's girlfriends, wives and/or concubines in a polygamous household
      3. (biology) a group of female animals (cows) herded and controlled by a male animal (bull) of that species for breeding purposes; such behaviour is exhibited by bovids including cattle and buffalo as well as moose, elephants, seals, sea lions, baboons, and elephant seals
      4. (biology) a group of female birds mated to or associated with a breeding male

    Further reading

    Italian

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈa.rem/, (traditional, elevated style) /aˈrɛm/[1]
    • Rhymes: -arem, (traditional, elevated style) -ɛm
    • Hyphenation: hà‧rem, (traditional, elevated style) ha‧rèm

    Noun

    harem m (invariable)

    1. harem

    References

    1. ^ “harem” in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

    Polish

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram)bor.
    Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem)bor.
    Polish harem

      Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), borrowed from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram). Doublet of haram.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈxa.rɛm/
      • Audio:(file)
      • Rhymes: -arɛm
      • Syllabification: ha‧rem

      Noun

      harem m inan

      1. harem (the private part of an Arab household)
      2. (Islam) harem (group of women in a polygamous household)
      3. (humorous) harem (group of women gathered around one man they are interested in)
      4. harem (group of female animals (cows) herded and controlled by a male)

      Declension

      Declension of harem
      singular plural
      nominative harem haremy
      genitive haremu haremów
      dative haremowi haremom
      accusative harem haremy
      instrumental haremem haremami
      locative haremie haremach
      vocative haremie haremy

      Derived terms

      adjective
      • haremowy
      adverb
      • haremowo

      Further reading

      • “harem”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
      • “harem”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[2] (in Polish)

      Romanian

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

      Etymology tree
      Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram)bor.
      Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem)bor.
      Romanian harem

        Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), borrowed from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

        Noun

        harem n (plural haremuri)

        1. harem

        Declension

        singular plural
        indefinite definite indefinite definite
        nominative-accusative harem haremul haremuri haremurile
        genitive-dative harem haremului haremuri haremurilor
        vocative haremule haremurilor

        Serbo-Croatian

        Etymology

        Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

        Noun

        hárem m inan (Cyrillic spelling ха́рем)

        1. harem

        Declension

        Declension of harem
        singular plural
        nominative harem haremi
        genitive harema harema
        dative haremu haremima
        accusative harem hareme
        vocative hareme haremi
        locative haremu haremima
        instrumental haremom haremima

        Swedish

        Noun

        harem n

        1. a harem

        Declension

        Declension of harem
        nominative genitive
        singular indefinite harem harems
        definite haremet haremets
        plural indefinite harem harems
        definite haremen haremens

        See also

        References

        • “harem”, in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker [Dictionaries of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

        Turkish

        Etymology

        Etymology tree
        Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram)bor.
        Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem)
        Turkish harem

          Inherited from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), borrowed from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): /haˈɾem/
          • Hyphenation: ha‧rem

          Noun

          harem (definite accusative haremi, plural haremler)

          1. harem (the private section of a Muslim household forbidden for male adult strangers)
          2. The women and children that reside in this section
          3. (archaic) wife

          Declension

          Declension of harem
          singular plural
          nominative harem haremler
          definite accusative haremi haremleri
          dative hareme haremlere
          locative haremde haremlerde
          ablative haremden haremlerden
          genitive haremin haremlerin

          Further reading

          • “harem”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
          This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.