- harem
- 1634, from Turk. harem, from Arabic haram "wives and concubines," originally "women's quarters," lit. "something forbidden or kept safe," from root of harama "he guarded, forbade."
- odalisque
- 1681, "female slave in a harem," from Fr. odalisque (1664), from Turk. odaliq "maidservant," from odah "room in a harem," lit. "chamber, hall" + -liq, suffix expressing function. In Fr., the suffix was confused with Gk. -isk(os) "of the nature of, belonging to."
- Marrano
- "Jew or Moor converted to Christianity," 1583, from Sp., lit. "pig, swine," an expression of contempt, from Arabic muharram "forbidden thing" (eating of pork is forbidden by Muslim and Jewish religious law), from haruma "was forbidden" (see harem).
- eunuch
- late 14c., from Gk. eunoukhos "castrated man," originally "guard of the bedchamber or harem," from euno-, comb. form of eune "bed" + -okhos, from stem of ekhein "to have, hold." The Gk. and L. forms of the word were used to transl. Heb. saris, which sometimes meant merely "palace official," in Septuagint and Vulgate, probably without an intended comment on the qualities of bureaucrats.
"Eunuches is he žat is i-gilded, and suche were somtyme i-made wardeynes of ladyes in Egipt." [Travisa, 1387]
- seraglio
- "harem," also the name of a former palace of the sultan in Istanbul, 1581, 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"). The It. word probably reflects folk etymology influence of serraglio "enclosure, cage," from M.L. serraculum "bung, stopper" (see serried).