harem
noun/ˈhɑːriːm/, /ˈhɑːrəm/
/ˈhærəm/
- the women or wives belonging to a rich man, especially in some Muslim societies in the past
- the separate part of a traditional Muslim house where the women live
- (specialist) a group of female animals that share the same male for producing youngTopics Animalsc2
Word Originmid 17th cent. (in sense (2)): from Arabic ḥaram, ḥarīm, literally ‘prohibited, prohibited place’ (hence ‘sanctuary, women's quarters, women’), from ḥarama ‘be prohibited’.
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harem