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  

/ sɛˈrɑːlɪˌəʊ, -ˈreɪl, -ˈraɪl /

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

And spirited Yvonne keeps sneaking out of the seraglio to sigh against Ray's shoulder and warn him to be careful.

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

With this view he confiscated, on all sides, the property of his subjects; whilst his worthy mother stripped the seraglios she visited of the gems they contained.

From Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story; Vathek, an Arabian Tale by William Beckford

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

The seraglios he had quitted in Singapore and Kobe and Rangoon were, in his own words, "a thing o' the past."

From Command by William McFee

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

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

We read of the luxury of the court of Persia—the pomp of the seraglios, and of the palaces—the lights, the music, the dancing, the perfumes, the silks, the gold, and the diamonds.

From Knowledge is Power: A View of the Productive Forces of Modern Society and the Results of Labor, Capital and Skill. by Charles Knight