seraglio

The story

1. Latin · derived fromserāre“lock up, close”
2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*serrāculum
3. Italian · borrowed fromserraglio
4. English todayseraglio

From Italian serraglio, from Vulgar Latin *serrāculum, from a late form of Latin serāre (“lock up, close”), from sera (“lock, bolt”). The Italian word was used (because of phonetic similarity) to translate Turkish saray (“palace”). Compare serai, serail.

Words from the same roots