almah

English

The Almeh (1873) by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Alternative forms

Etymology

Ultimately from Arabic عَالِمَة (ʕālima, singer), originally a feminine adjective meaning ‘learned, knowledgeable’, from عَلِمَ (ʕalima, to know).

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈæl.mə/

Noun

almah (plural almahs or almah)

  1. An Egyptian singer or dancing-girl used for entertainment; a dancing-girl, a prostitute. [from 18th c.]
    • 1998, Hélène Cixous, translated by Catherine Gillivray, Firstdays of the Year, Minnesota, page 157:
      Nostalgia is almah, the Arab dancing girl. She tells me stories of the drowned, the deadest of this world's dead.

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