Seraglio
A seraglio ( /səˈræljoʊ/ sə-RAL-yoh or /səˈrɑːljoʊ/ sə-RAHL-yoh) or serail is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in an Ottoman household. The word comes from an Italian varianta of Turkish saray, from Persian saraʾi (سرای), meaning palace, or the enclosed courts for the wives and concubines of the harem of a house or palace. The term harem is also used to refer to these sequestered living quarters, but has additionally come to refer to the women themselves.
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Famous quotes containing the word seraglio:
“I was amongst the virtues like the great Turk in his seraglio of women, and I chose to dwell with that virtue which looked the fairest in my eyes and gave me at that season most pleasure. In short, I made wives of them: I first admired them, then made them my own property, and if they would not submit to my will, I again turned them off and divorced them.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)