Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A brothel.
  • noun A prison for slaves in Asian countries.
  • noun A public bathhouse in Italy or Turkey.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A bath; a house for bathing, cupping, sweating, and otherwise cleansing the body.
  • noun A brothel; a stew.
  • noun In the Turkish empire, a prison in general; in France, formerly, one of the great prisons (bagnes) substituted for the galleys, now superseded by transportation: perhaps so called from the former use of ancient baths in Constantinople as prisons.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A house for bathing, sweating, etc.; -- also, in Turkey, a prison for slaves.
  • noun A brothel; a stew; a house of prostitution.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A brothel.
  • noun obsolete A building for bathing, sweating.
  • noun obsolete In Turkey, a prison for slaves.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a building where prostitutes are available
  • noun a building containing public baths

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian bagno, bath, from Latin balneum, from Greek balaneion.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Italian bagno, from Latin balneum ("bath").

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Examples

  • This straightforward account of matters inside the bagnio is the more valuable and interesting if we recollect that Cervantes 'great-grandmother was a Saavedra, and that the soldier alluded to in the text was really himself.

    The True Story Book Andrew Lang 1878

  • That's why I'll 'ave the finest slap-up bagnio on the west coast goin' full steam before the year's out an 'I'll still have a tidy parcel over in the bank.

    Isabelle Estelle Bruno 2010

  • Check every bawdy house, bagnio, Blind Tiger, and frab-joint in the city.

    Wild Dreams of Reality, 5 2010

  • Apparently our favorite Pete Doherty-like Earl somehow discovered his wife's infidelities and followed her to the bagnio where he discovered her in bed with Silvertongue.

    Marriage a la Mode, Part 5: The Bagnio Heather Carroll 2008

  • The Countess and Silvertongue have checked into The Turk's Head, a bagnio that actually existed in Hogath's time.

    Marriage a la Mode, Part 5: The Bagnio Heather Carroll 2008

  • Do you know that we saw your friend Jervas coming out of the bagnio near Covent Garden half an hour ago?

    The Scandal of the Season Sophie Gee 2007

  • From whom should this visit be, but from Sally Martin, accompanied by Mrs. Carter, the sister of the infamous Sinclair! the same, I suppose I need not tell you, who keeps the bagnio near

    Clarissa Harlowe 2006

  • The next fastest way, is by moist heat; as in a bagnio.

    1760 diet revolution | The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. 2006

  • Drank her light-hearted — then carried her to a play — then it was too late, you know, to see the pretended lady — then to a bagnio — ruined her, as they call it, and all this the same day.

    Clarissa Harlowe 2006

  • The cleanliness of the rest of your person, which, by the way, will conduce greatly to your health, I refer from time to time to the bagnio.

    Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman 2005

Comments

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  • "1. A bath; a house for bathing, cupping, sweating, and otherwise cleansing the body.

    2. A brothel; a stew.

    3. In the Turkish empire, a prison in general; in France, formerly, one of the great prisons (bagnes) substituted for the galleys, now superseded by transportation: perhaps so called from the former use of ancient baths in Constantinople as prisons."

    --Century Dictionary

    January 13, 2011