hierodule

American  

[hahy-er-uh-dool, -dyool, hahy-ruh-] / ˈhaɪ ər əˌdul, -ˌdyul, ˈhaɪ rə- /

noun

1. a slave in service in an ancient Greek temple.

---

hierodule British  

/ ˈhaɪərəˌdjuːl /

noun

1. (in ancient Greece) a temple slave, esp a sacral prostitute

---

Other Word Forms

• hierodulic adjective

Etymology

Origin of hierodule

1825–35; < Greek hieródoulos temple slave, equivalent to hieró ( n ) temple + doúlos slave

Example Sentences

He was sitting with Ramûa on the steps of the temple of Istar, munching dates and struggling with new phrases in the apparently hopeless Chaldean tongue, when a veiled hierodule came out of the temple and down the platform stairs with the request that Charmides follow her to the presence of Belit Istar, who longed for the sound of his voice.

From Project Gutenberg

And Ms. Gordon is a showy enough linguist to make gloriously apt use of the words hierodule, unmiscible and catawamptious.

From New York Times

The House of the Muses, House of the Painted Vaults, House of the Yellow Walls, and House of Hierodule, each clad in frescoes and mosaics, will open to visitors daily at 11 a.m.

From New York Times

If he did not, on his death the brothers were bound to do so, giving her a full child's share if a wife, a concubine or a vestal, but one-third of a child's share if she were a hierodule or a Marduk priestess.

From Project Gutenberg

If a father has vowed to God a votary, hierodule, or nu-bar, and has not granted her a marriage portion, after the father has gone to his fate she shall share in the goods of the father’s house one-third of her sonship share and shall enjoy it as long as she lives, after her it is her brothers’ forsooth.

From Project Gutenberg