Why this word is great
HETAERA — [Noun] A highly cultivated hired female companion in ancient Greece who entertained upper-class male clients and might perform sex acts for them. From the Ancient Greek ἑταίρᾱ (hetaírā), feminine of ἑταῖρος (hetaîros, "companion"). Unlike "courtesan" (a general term for a high-class prostitute) or "geisha" (a Japanese entertainer bound by distinct traditions), the hetaera was a paradox—both revered and reviled, a woman who wielded intellectual and erotic power in a society that denied her citizenship. She was the flicker of lamplight on a symposium’s wine cup, the sharp retort that silenced a room of men, the scent of myrrh lingering on a scroll left behind at dawn—a woman who traded in both pleasure and ideas, yet remained, in the end, a commodity herself.