Definitions

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

  • noun The wife, mother, sister, or daughter of a sultan.
  • noun The mistress of a sultan.
  • noun Any of various green seedless grapes, especially the Thompson seedless, used in producing raisins and a white wine.
  • noun The often yellow raisin made from this grape.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The mother, a wife, or a daughter of a sultan.
  • noun A mistress, especially of a king or prince.
  • noun A peculiar form of necklace worn by women in the second half of the eighteenth century.
  • noun An obsolete musical instrument of the viol class, having several wire strings, tuned in pairs, like the zither.
  • noun In ornithology, same as sultan, 2.
  • noun A variety of raisin. See raisin, 2.

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

  • noun The wife of a sultan; a sultaness.
  • noun A kind of seedless raisin produced near Smyrna in Asiatic Turkey.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the hyacinthine, or purple, gallinule. See Illust. under Gallinule.

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

  • noun A pale yellow raisin made from a seedless grape
  • noun A female sultan or wife of a sultan

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

  • noun pale yellow seedless grape used for raisins and wine
  • noun dried seedless grape

Etymologies

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

[Italian, feminine of sultano, sultan, from Arabic sulṭān; see sultan.]

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Examples

  • I also knew, that by birth the sultana was a Hindu, although on being wed to her lord as a little girl, she had of course embraced the true faith of Islam, in so far as it matters for a woman to have any religion at all.

    Tales of Destiny Edmund Mitchell

  • And this skin was stretched over curves which likewise seemed ripened by a southern sun, recalling a sultana with their indolent and vegetative luxuriance.

    Loulou 1921

  • The sultana was a sensible woman, and knew not only the weak side of her husband, but also the way to take advantage of it.

    The Oriental Story Book A Collection of Tales Wilhelm Hauff 1814

  • If he gives a large sum to the girl, it will give his "sultana" a powerful weapon for the future.

    The Little Lady of Lagunitas A Franco-Californian Romance Richard Savage 1874

  • "Never mind," she announces, quickly sticking a sultana in the top.

    How to make Indian sweets Homa Khaleeli 2010

  • Elsewhere, that day's specials included an interesting-sounding creamy potato, smoked cheese, apple and basil bake, a chunky vegetable and barley broth, and several mouth-watering puddings, such as apple and sultana crumble, and chocolate and almond torte.

    Lancaster's 10 best budget restaurants, pubs and cafes 2011

  • It was currently dressed like a sultana, and a particularly opulent sultana at that.

    Lips that Touch Liquor: The Gin Buck 2010

  • This recipe is based upon my mother's cake recipe (choose your flavour - butter, chocolate, sultana, rainbow, depending on what you add or omit).

    Cacao Nibs 2007

  • They started their life as sultana polenta cakes from a recipe I spotted over coffee in some magazine.

    Archive 2009-02-01 Haalo 2009

  • In a fit of hopefullness I picked up a bag of organic bran flakes and a bag of sultanas this afternoon and have combined them in a glass jar as homemade raisin (well, sultana) bran.

    packaging 2007

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