seraglio

[uncronopio]

1.The part of a Muslim's household where his wives or concubines live; harem. 2. The palace of a Turkish sultan.

From Italian serraglio: enclosure, padlock, also from Latin serare to lock, from Latin sera a lock or bolt.

[Brazilian dude]

I didn't know this one.

Brazilian dude

[tcward]

Well, I did, but only because of Mozart...

Die Entführung aus dem Serail

-Tim

[miku.]

From Italian serraglio: enclosure, padlock, also from Latin serare to lock, from Latin sera a lock or bolt.

Above all In Italian it means: "a fenced group of wild animals". And "barricade"; or "buildings of the sultan's residence": we can find this last meaning by the Vanvitelli's huge construction in Neapel: it's called "L'Albergo dei Poveri": also pejoratively known as "Serraglio".

I see now that the first and the last meanings maybe have a different etymology: 1. (a fenced group...) [Dal provenz. serralh, che è dal lat. tardo serracülum, der. di serare 'chiudere']. 2. (building...) [Dal turco saray].

Ciao!

[anders]

2. (building...) [Dal turco saray].

Or, to be more exact still, from Persian سراء sarâ' and/or سراى sarâ'e, the former meaning palace, mansion, the latter being given as

A house, palace, grand edifice, king's court, seraglio, an inn

(etc.)

In Arabic, it's سراى sarây; Wehr: "palace", no more, no less; in Urdu سراء sarâ'/ سرائ sarâ'i "An inn, a caravan serai, a temporary lodging for travellers". Hindi uses सराय sarây "1. House, abode; 2. temporary lodging-place, inn, 3. fig. the world.

[Brazilian dude]

Anders, your posts are getting fancier and fancier with all them squiggles.

Brazilian dude

[uncronopio]

I'll have to install a few fonts in my system, because anders's comments are full of question marks.

Miku, I was using the etymology provided by Webster's. Would it be possible that the meaning of the word in Italian has been changing with time?

[gailr]

Anders, your posts are getting fancier and fancier with all them squiggles.

High praise indeed, from someone whom we may suspect of knowing squat about them squiggles.
gailr