Seraglio

Seraglio
See also, Sarayburnu (also known as Seraglio Point).
The Gate of a seraglio.
An illustration of the women's quarters in a seraglio.
Main entrance to a hall in a seraglio.
Seraglio courtiers assembled in a strict protocol.

A seraglio (play /səˈrælj/ sə-ral-yoh or /səˈrɑːlj/ sə-rahl-yoh) or serail is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in a Turkish household. The word comes from an Italian varianta of Turkish saray, from Persian saraʾi (سرای‎),[1] meaning palace, or the enclosed courts for the wives and concubines of the harem of a house or palace.[2][3] The term harem is also used to refer to these sequestered living quarters, but has additionally come to refer to the women themselves.

In the context of the turquerie fashion, the seraglio became the subject of works of art, the most famous perhaps being Mozart's Singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio). In Montesquieu's Persian Letters, one of the main characters, a Persian from the city of Isfahan, is described as an occupant of a seraglio.

"The Seraglio" may refer specifically to the Topkapı Palace, the residence of the former Ottoman Sultans in Istanbul. The term can also refer to other traditional Turkish palaces—every imperial prince had his own—and other grand houses built around courtyards.

Contents

Notes

  1. ^ Note that in current Italian this word is spelled serraglio.

References

  1. ^ Harper, Douglas. "seraglio". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=seraglio. 
  2. ^ Dictionary.com
  3. ^ TheFreeDictionary

See also

External links


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  • Seraglio — Se*ragl io, n. [It. serraglio, originally, an inclosure of palisades, afterwards also, a palace, seraglio (by confusion with Per. ser[=a][ i]a a palace, an entirely different word), fr. serrare to shut, fr. LL. serra a bar for fastening doors, L …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • seraglio — (n.) harem, also the name of a former palace of the sultan in Istanbul, 1580s, from It. seraglio, alteration of Turk. saray palace, court, from Pers. sara i palace, inn, from Iranian base *thraya to protect (Cf. Avestan thrayeinti they protect ) …   Etymology dictionary

  • seraglio — [si ral′yō, siräl′yō] n. pl. seraglios [It serraglio, enclosure, padlock, also (infl. by Turk saray, palace: see SERAI), place, seraglio < ML serraculum, a bolt, bar < LL serare, to lock, bar < L sera, a bolt, lock] 1. the part of a… …   English World dictionary

  • Seraglio — Seraglio, 1) so v.w. Bosna 2); 2) italienisch für Serai …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • seraglio — ► NOUN (pl. seraglios) 1) the women s apartments in a Muslim house or palace. 2) a harem. ORIGIN Italian serraglio, from a Persian word meaning palace …   English terms dictionary

  • seraglio — noun a) 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 Signiors seraglio. b) The sequestered living quarters used by …   Wiktionary

  • seraglio —    (seh RAHL yoh) [Italian: enclosure] The section of a traditional Muslim house where women live in seclusion; a harem.    He had marked the founding father’s satirical, if now prescient, reference to critics’ warnings that Americans studying… …   Dictionary of foreign words and phrases

  • seraglio — noun (plural glios) Etymology: Italian serraglio, modification of Turkish saray palace Date: 1581 1. harem 1a 2. a palace of a sultan …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • seraglio — /si ral yoh, rahl /, n., pl. seraglios. 1. the part of a Muslim house or palace in which the wives and concubines are secluded; harem. 2. a Turkish palace, esp. of the sultan. Also called serail /seuh ruy , ruyl , rayl /. [1575 85; < It serraglio …   Universalium

  • SERAGLIO —    in its restricted sense applied in the East to a harem or women s quarters in a royal household; the former residence of the sultan of Turkey, occupies a beautiful site on the E. side of Constantinople, on a projecting piece of land between… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

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