harem

• hareem (dated)
• harim (dated)

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem) Turkish harem, from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram, “something prohibited; sanctuary, women”); and later also from حَرِيم (ḥarīm) with same meaning, both from حَرُمَ (ḥaruma, “be forbidden or unlawful”). Doublet of haram.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːɹiːm/, /(ˌ)hɑːˈɹiːm/, /ˈhɛəɹəm/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈhæɹəm/, /ˈhɛəɹəm/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛəɹəm, (General American, Canada) -æɹəm, (Received Pronunciation) -iːm

harem (countable and uncountable, plural harems)

1. The private section of a Muslim household forbidden to male strangers. [1841]
   • 1841, James Justinian Morier, The Mirza, volume 3, page 153:

     "In the room next to her own, lived the harem of a merchant who had just arrived from Constantinople with merchandise. It consisted of his wife, children, and two female slaves, who being well off in their circumstances, enjoyed the comforts and conveniences of life, and eat and drank unsparingly every day."

2. A group of someone's girlfriends, wives and/or concubines in a polygamous household.
3. 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 (including elephant seals), sea lions, and baboons. [2006]
   • 2006 Maestripieri, Dario; Mayhew, Jessica; Carlson, Cindy L.; Hoffman, Christy L.; and Radtke, Jennifer M. "One-Male Harems and Female Social Dynamics in Guinea Baboons", published in Folia Primatol 2007; 78:56–68, doi 10.1159/000095686
4. (ornithology) A group of female birds mated to or associated with a breeding male.
   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 90:

     In the meantime we were hidden in a close juniper thicket on the little knoll, and expected the capercailzie cock every moment; but our old friend tarried a long time in his harem.

5. (slang) Any significant number of women together as a group; a bevy.
6. (uncountable) A genre of anime and manga in which a man is the love interest of three or more women.

• (private area for wives, women thus kept): zenana (Indian contexts)

• Hamer, Hamre, Maher, Mehra, Rhame, herma, rhema

Borrowed from French harem, from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram, “something prohibited; sanctuary, women”). Doublet of haram.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əˈɾɛm]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aˈɾem]

harem m (plural harems)

1. harem

• serrall

• “harem”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم, from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦaː.rəm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ha‧rem

harem m (plural harems, diminutive harempje n)

1. harem (private part of an Arab house, esp. the women's quarters)

   Synonym: haremverblijf

2. harem (group of female partners in a polygamous household)
3. harem (group of female animals belonging to one male)

• vrouwenverblijf
• vrouwenvertrek

• harembroek
• haremdame
• haremeunuch
• haremvrouw
• haremwachter

• haram

• Audio:

  (file)

harem m (plural harems)

1. harem

• “harem”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

From Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem) (Modern Turkish harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram, “something prohibited; sanctuary, women”); and later also from حَرِيم (ḥarīm) with same meaning, both from حَرُمَ (ḥaruma, “be forbidden or unlawful”). Doublet of haram.

• IPA^(key): [ˈharəm]
• Rhymes: -rəm, -əm, -m
• Hyphenation: ha‧rêm

harêm (plural harem-harem)

1. harem:
   1. the private section of an Arab household, traditionally forbidden to male strangers
   2. a group of someone's girlfriends, wives and/or concubines in a polygamous household
   3. (biology) 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, baboons, and elephant seals
   4. (biology) a group of female birds mated to or associated with a breeding male

• “harem” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.rem/, (traditional, elevated style) /aˈrɛm/^[1]
• Rhymes: -arem, (traditional, elevated style) -ɛm
• Hyphenation: hà‧rem, (traditional, elevated style) ha‧rèm

harem m (invariable)

1. harem

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram). Doublet of haram.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxa.rɛm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -arɛm
• Syllabification: ha‧rem

harem m inan

1. harem (the private part of an Arab household)
2. (Islam) harem (group of women in a polygamous household)
3. (humorous) harem (group of women gathered around one man they are interested in)
4. harem (group of female animals (cows) herded and controlled by a male)

• harem in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• harem in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• харем (harem) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

harem n (plural haremuri)

1. harem

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

hárem m inan (Cyrillic spelling ха́рем)

1. harem

harem n

1. a harem

• haram

• harem in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• harem in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• harem in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

From Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram).

harem (definite accusative haremi, plural haremler)

1. harem