hetaera

American  

[hi-teer-uh] / hɪˈtɪər ə /

noun

PLURAL

hetaerae

1. a highly cultured courtesan or concubine, especially in ancient Greece.

2. any woman who uses her beauty and charm to obtain wealth or social position.

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hetaera British  

/ hɪˈtaɪrə, hɪˈtɪərə /

noun

1. (esp in ancient Greece) a female prostitute, esp an educated courtesan

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Other Word Forms

• hetaeric adjective

Etymology

Origin of hetaera

First recorded in 1810–20, hetaera is from the Greek word hetaíra (feminine) companion

Example Sentences

“They were like the Greek hetaera or the Japanese geishas,” she continued, “experts in the arts of pleasing men. They were oppressed because they could only survive by maintaining the pleasure of their male patrons. They could hold power only as long as their sexual appeal lasted, though some of them were able to make it last well into old age thanks to their beauty tricks.”

From Salon

The Thais of that play is the most favourable delineation of the Athenian 'Hetaera' in ancient literature.

From Project Gutenberg

Ultimately, he finds redemption through fleshly enslavement to Catherine, an amoral part-time model and fulltime hetaera who makes him feel love, jealousy and suicidal impulses.

From Time Magazine Archive

The model hovers, slips off the jacket and hands it to the assistant, who accepts it in silence, impersonal and invisible as an attendant on some ancient hetaera.

From Time Magazine Archive

The concubine has the status of a hetaera; she travels with the man, keeps his accounts, etc.

From Project Gutenberg