Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: Arabic
Origin: harim 'something forbidden'

harem

 noun
     
har‧em [countable]
1 the group of wives or women who lived with a rich or powerful man in some Muslim societies in the past
2TBB part of a Muslim house that is separate from the rest of the house, where only women live
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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