Wordwyrt

harem

/ˈheɹəm/HEH-ruhm
/ˈhɛɹəm/HEH-ruhm

Meaningto forbid

Common meaning: the women's quarters of an Eastern house

Journey through time

  1. Arabicharama‘he forbade’source
  2. Arabicmeaning shiftshe forbade → the women's rooms, a forbidden placeharam‘the women's rooms, a forbidden place’source
  3. Englishharem‘the women's quarters of an Eastern house’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Arabic harama ‘to forbid’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry HAREM, p. 255 · dictionary scan

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app