Definition of Harem

1. Noun. Living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household.

Exact synonyms: Hareem, Seraglio, Serail
Generic synonyms: Living Quarters, Quarters

Definition of Harem

1. n. The apartments or portion of the house allotted to females in Mohammedan families.

Definition of Harem

1. Noun. The private part of an Arab household. In traditional Arab culture, this part of the household was forbidden to male strangers. ¹

2. Noun. A group of women, wives and/or concubines in a polygamous household. ¹

3. Noun. A group of female animals (cows) herded and controlled by a male animal (bull) of that species for breeding purposes. Such behaviour is exhibited by bovids including cattle and buffalo as well as moose, elephants, seals, sea lions, sea elephants. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Harem

1. the section of a Muslim household reserved for women [n -S]

Medical Definition of Harem

1. 1. The apartments or portion of the house allotted to females in Mohammedan families. 2. The family of wives and concubines belonging to one man, in Mohammedan countries; a seraglio. Origin: Ar.haram, orig, anything forbidden of sacred, fr. Harama to forbid, prohibit Alternative forms: haram and hareem. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Harem

harebell
harebells
harebrained
hared
hareem
hareems
harefoot
harehound
harehounds
hareld
harelds
harelike
harelipped
harelips
harem (current term)
haremlik
haremlike
harems
hares
harewood
harewoods
harfang
hari-kari
hariana
harianas
haricot
haricot bean
haricot beans

Literary usage of Harem

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Turkey by Stanley Lane-Poole, Elias John Wilkinson Gibb, Arthur Gilman (1899)
"passage which was closed by four gates, two of bronze and two of iron, whereat black eunuchs stood on guard night and day—lay the imperial harem, ..."

2. A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in by John Pinkerton (1814)
"... the harem, I always took care that my deportment in their prefence ... to me in the harem, by convincing the ignorant part of it that I paid very little ..."

3. An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures by Thomas Hartwell Horne (1856)
"The women of the king's harem are to be considered as forming part of the royal ... 1 The maids of the harem, at the king's pleasure, became his concubines ..."

4. The Story of Turkey by Stanley Lane-Poole (1888)
"The harem was exclusively tenanted by the women of the imperial household; no man save the ... In the middle of the harem garden rose the Sultan's pavilion, ..."

5. Women Under Polygamy by Walter Matthew Gallichan (1915)
"She may have entered the harem at a tender age, knowing very little indeed of the ... While the rulers of the harem exercise the most cautious and elaborate ..."

6. The Story of Turkey by Stanley Lane-Poole, Elias John Wilkinson Gibb, Arthur Gilman (1888)
"passage which was closed by four gates, two of bronze and two of iron, whereat black eunuchs stood on guard night and day—lay the imperial harem, ..."

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