seraglio

American  

[si-ral-yoh, -rahl-] / sɪˈræl joʊ, -ˈrɑl- /

noun

• seraglios
  plural

1. the part of a Muslim house or palace in which the wives and concubines are secluded; harem.

2. a Turkish palace, especially of the sultan.

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seraglio British  

/ -ˈreɪl, səˈraɪ, -ˈraɪl, sɛˈrɑːlɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. the harem of a Muslim house or palace

2. a sultan's palace, esp in the former Turkish empire

3. the wives and concubines of a Muslim

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• seraglios
  plural

Etymology

Origin of seraglio

1575–85; < Italian serraglio < Persian sarāy palace; sense development in Italian perhaps influenced by serrare to lock up

Explanation

A seraglio refers to the apartments or rooms where a group of Turkish Muslim women live together, especially if they are a man's wives and concubines. In other words, a seraglio is a harem. Thanks to Mozart's opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio," this word will always retain a slot in English — despite its being merely an Italian loan from an originally Turkish word meaning "Muslim women's quarters." "The Heist from the Harem" might have been just as good a translation of Mozart's title, but it somehow lacks the dignity we associate with grand opera.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

seraglio seraglios

But with the Prince Andrew imbroglio in the seraglio of Jeffrey Epstein, and with Harry’s run for the Hollywood Hills, it is clear that many in her family are not interested in moral authority.

From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2020

Mischievous mice, an exotic peacock, the Pasha's seraglio and even a curious monster from Where the Wild Things Are create a blissful return to childhood.

From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2012

Even so, he invites the crooks to his apartment for the pure pleasure of watching their faces when they see that the bust of the empress is secluded in an impenetrable electronic seraglio.

From Time Magazine Archive

Even in Mexico, at a kind of seraglio for impotent veterans, he finds little sympathy among his own crippled kind.

From Time Magazine Archive

Oft doth reason, enthroned in the pillowed seraglio of the brain, hang back; whereas the flesh, which must walk abroad in the streets, finds its own temerity.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Women, in Constantinople, are confined in seraglios for life, or shut up in their apartments.

From Female Scripture Biographies, Volume II by Francis Augustus Cox

With this confusion of ideas, he entered into the city, which he could not in the least recollect: the houses, the temples, the seraglios, appeared under a new form to him.

From Eastern Tales by Many Story Tellers by L. (Laura) Valentine

Fair marks are they to the inner bay, the reckless poacher knows What time the scarred see-catchie lead their sleek seraglios.

From Verses 1889-1896 by Rudyard Kipling

Moreover, what does it all matter to us so long as our integrity is maintained, our seraglios remain intact, and our coffers are filled?

From In the Track of the Troops by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

Access to the seraglios was had by corresponding arbors leading from the palace.

From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Herman Melville