Meaning

6 senses
  1. (countable, uncountable)The private section of a Muslim household forbidden to male strangers.

    Harem

    гаре́мgarém

    гаре́мharém

  2. (countable, uncountable)A group of someone's girlfriends, wives and/or concubines in a polygamous household.

    Harem

    гаре́мgarém

    living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household

  3. (countable, uncountable)A group of female animals (cows) herded and controlled by a male animal (bull) of that species for breeding purposes. Such behaviour is exhibited by bovids including cattle and buffalo as well as moose, elephants, seals (including elephant seals), sea lions, and baboons.

  4. (countable, uncountable)A group of female birds mated to or associated with a breeding male.

  5. (countable, slang, uncountable)Any significant number of women together as a group; a bevy.

  6. (uncountable)A genre of anime and manga in which a man is the love interest of three or more women.

Examples

3 sentences
  1. Historical sources suggest that the king had a sizeable harem.

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  2. The chieftain possessed a harem of young men and women alike.

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  3. It appears that I don't have it in me to have a harem in my charge.

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Translations

8 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
the private part of an Arab or Muslim Indian household:
Русский
By meaning 1
the private part of an Arab or Muslim Indian household:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
the private part of an Arab or Muslim Indian household:

Origin

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem) (whence Turkish harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حرم (harem) (whence Turkish harem), from Arabic حَرَم (ḥaram, “something prohibited; sanctuary, women”); and later also from حَرِيم (ḥarīm) with same meaning, both from حَرُمَ (ḥaruma, “be forbidden or unlawful”). Doublet of haram and herem.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: harems

Synonyms

3 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household:hareemseraglioserail

Word family

14 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
harem — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto