Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A woman slave in a harem.
- noun An artistic representation, often highly eroticized, of such a slave.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A female slave or concubine in the harem of the Turkish sultan.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun historical A female slave in a
harem , especially one in the Ottomanseraglio . - noun A desirable or sexually attractive woman.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a woman slave in a harem
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A further ironic implication of Farrell's, Boucher's, and Moore's use of the imagery of the odalisque is that the signification of "odalisque" as concubine is itself a projection of the European mind, since its original Turkish meaning is simply that of "'woman of the room [oda],' implying a general servant status" (Croutier 30-32).
Irish Odalisques and Other Seductive Figures: Thomas Moore 2000
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Similarly, Boucher's model for an odalisque is not an actual Circassian, Georgian, or Abkhasian woman (as an odalisque in Turkey likely would have been) (Croutier 30); instead she is from Ireland, a not quite as foreign European colony, and the fantasy is safely controlled.
Irish Odalisques and Other Seductive Figures: Thomas Moore 2000
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Whether Lalla Rookh, Larry Rourke, the Madonna Irlanda, or Mademoiselle O'Murphy, the Irish odalisque is no paradox or oxymoron.
Irish Odalisques and Other Seductive Figures: Thomas Moore 2000
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If "odalisque" had been what Ray called an objectionable word, he would have thrown the picture out in the first place.
The song of the lark 1915
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If "odalisque" had been what Ray called an objectionable word, he would have thrown the picture out in the first place.
The Song of the Lark Willa Sibert Cather 1910
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UP Pompeii: UK girl taken - to be turned into an "odalisque"
UP Pompeii Gandalf 2010
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"odalisque", it is not only white girls that are taken, many from India and Sri Lanka are also taken
UP Pompeii Gandalf 2010
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An elongated odalisque and a pair of unexpectedly spontaneous studies for the voluptuous fantasy "The Turkish Bath" remind us that distinctions between Romanticism and Neo-Classicism may be irrelevant.
Drawn to Revolution Karen Wilkin 2011
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"Olympia," a contemporary odalisque propped on silken pillows, with a maid bearing flowers and a black cat in attendance, was accepted in 1865.
Still Turning Black to Light Judy Fayard 2011
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In "Feeling me" (2004), she shows herself naked, posed as an odalisque against a black background with her husband's hand (all we see of him) resting on her distended belly.
Real Lives Put in Focus William Meyers 2011
mollusque commented on the word odalisque
In the mermaid suit Zora was none too mobile and stretched out across the couch, a Piscean odalisque.
—Jeffrey Eugenides, 2002, Middlesex, p. 495
August 17, 2008
super-clarice commented on the word odalisque
oh I love this word, thanks for posting it
April 30, 2009
vrncfreimuth commented on the word odalisque
odalisque- a chambermaid who was usually a virgin that was given to the sultan as a gift; if she was pretty she would move from being low on the totem pole to concubine , another wife.
February 19, 2011