Adjacent Words

Seraglio definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SERAGLIO, n. seral'yo. The palace of the Grand Seignior or Turkish sultan, or the palace of a prince. The seraglio of the sultan is a long range of buildings inhabited by the Grand Seignior and all the officers and dependents of his court; and in it is transacted all the business of government. In this also are confined the females of the harem.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household [syn: harem, hareem, seraglio, serail]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -glios) Etymology: Italian serraglio, modification of Turkish saray palace Date: 1581 1. harem 1a 2. a palace of a sultan

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -os) 1 a harem. 2 hist. a Turkish palace, esp. that of the Sultan with government offices etc. at Constantinople. Etymology: It. serraglio f. Turk. f. Pers. saray palace: cf. SERAI

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Seraglio Se*ragl"io, n. [It. serraglio, originally, an inclosure of palisades, afterwards also, a palace, seraglio (by confusion with Per. ser[=a]["i]a a palace, an entirely different word), fr. serrare to shut, fr. LL. serra a bar for fastening doors, L. sera. See Serry, Series.] 1. An inclosure; a place of separation. [Obs.] I went to the Ghetto, where the Jews dwell as in a suburb, by themselves. I passed by the piazza Judea, where their seraglio begins. --Evelyn. 2. The palace of the Grand Seignior, or Turkish sultan, at Constantinople, inhabited by the sultan himself, and all the officers and dependents of his court. In it are also kept the females of the harem. 3. A harem; a place for keeping wives or concubines; sometimes, loosely, a place of licentious pleasure; a house of debauchery.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. The Sultan's palace. 2. Harem.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A bawdy-house; the name of that part of the Great Turk's palace where the women are kept.