seraglio
/səˈɹæljoʊ/
Etymology
From Italian serraglio, from Vulgar Latin *serrāculum, from a late form of Latin serāre (“lock up, close”), from sera (“lock, bolt”). The Italian word was used (because of phonetic similarity) to translate Turkish saray (“palace”). Compare serai, serail.
seraglio means A palace of a sultan. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 78 out of 100.
seraglio is pronounced /səˈɹæljoʊ/.
Why “seraglio” is a great word
SERAGLIO — [Noun] The palace of a sultan, especially the lavish residence of the Ottoman sovereign in Constantinople, or any opulent and enclosed domicile. From Italian serraglio ("enclosure, cage"), from Vulgar Latin *serrāculum, from a late form of Latin serāre ("to lock up, close"), from sera ("lock, bolt"); the Italian word was later applied, due to phonetic similarity, to translate Turkish saray ("palace"). First attested in English circa 1581. Unlike "harem" (which specifies the sequestered women’s quarters) or "serai" (which denotes a public caravanserai), a seraglio is the entire citadel of seclusion. It is the glint of gilded latticework casting barred shadows, the scent of ambergris hanging in marble courtyards, and the profound silence behind high walls—a monument to the exquisite solitude purchased by power, built upon the phonetic coincidence of a lock and a throne.
noun
- A palace of a sultan.
- A palace of a sultan.; The palace of the Grand Seignior in Constantinople.“At these words he started up, and beheld—not his Sophia—no, nor a Circassian maid richly and elegantly attired for the grand Signior's seraglio.”
- A profligate or decadent residence of a rich person.“In 1936 [Charles] Schwab's agents approached the La Guardia administration in New York, hoping to interest the city in buying his mansion for the official residence of the mayor. […] But Fiorello La Guardia took great pride in the fact that he lived in a modest walkup in Lower New York. He ridiculed the idea of moving into the robber baron's seraglio, telling newsmen that the city much preferred h”
- The sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines (odalisques) in a Turkish Muslim household.
- A brothel or place of debauchery.
- An interior cage or enclosed courtyard for keeping wild beasts.