odalisque

American  

[ohd-l-isk] / ˈoʊd l ɪsk /

Or odalisk

noun

1. a female slave or concubine in a harem, especially in that of the sultan of Turkey.

2. (initial capital letter) any of a number of representations of such a woman or of a similar subject, as by Ingres or Matisse.

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odalisque British  

/ ˈəʊdəlɪsk /

noun

1. a female slave or concubine

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Etymology

Origin of odalisque

First recorded in 1675–85; from French, alteration of earlier odalique (with -s- perhaps from -esque -esque ) from Turkish odalιk “female slave, concubine,” equivalent to oda “room, chamber” + -lιk a noun suffix indicating relationship or origin

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

odalisque

Ingres and Matisse transformed the reclining body into an odalisque, dressing their women in sheer harem pants and silk turbans, decorating them with bejeweled peacock-feather fans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2023

In a Joan Brown painting, a cat might sit pensively in the middle of a Kool-Aid-colored landscape and a woman with the body of a tiger might take the pose of an Ingres odalisque.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2022

She photographs herself as the schoolgirl, aristocrat, frustrated housewife, film-noir heroine, biker chick, odalisque, demented clown and soap opera diva.

From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 27, 2012

Mickalene Thomas’s photograph hides an odalisque in plain sight by surrounding her with patterned fabrics.

From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2011

Not Morenita, and not Montfériot, not Diaz himself, but Magda, the self-constituted odalisque, was its author.

From Sacred and Profane Love by Arnold Bennett

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