brothel
English
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɹɔθəl/, /ˈbɹɔðəl/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɹɒθəl/, (obsolete) /ˈbɹɒðəl/
- (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈbɹɑθəl/, /ˈbɹɑðəl/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒθəl, -ɒðəl
- Hyphenation: broth‧el
Etymology 1
Short for brothel-house (“house of prostitution”), from brothel (“a wretch; scoundrel; lecher; harlot; prostitute”) + house, influenced by bordel. For more on brothel (“a wretch”), see below.
Synonyms
- academy
- bawdy-house
- bordello
- cathouse
- crib
- disorderly house (historical)
- house of ill fame
- house of ill reputation
- house of ill repute
- knocking shop
- leaping house
- lupanar
- massage parlour
- nunnery
- pushing school
- red house
- sauna
- sporting house
- vaulting school
- whorehouse
See also Thesaurus:brothel
Derived terms
- brothel creeper
- brothel-house
- brothel-keeper, brothel keeper, brothelkeeper
- brothel-keeping, brothel keeping, brothelkeeping
- couldn't organise an orgy in a brothel
Translations
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See also
Etymology 2
Middle English brothel, brodel, brodelle, brethel (“a wretch, a depraved man or woman”) (compare also Middle English bretheling (“a wretch”)), apparently from an unrecorded Old English *brēoþel (“degenerative, corruptive”), related to Old English ābrēoþan (“to unsettle, degrade, ruin, frustrate, degenerate, deteriorate, fall away”); Old English ābroþen (“degenerate, base, trifling”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *breuþaną (“to fall apart; crumble”).
The expected modern English form would be *broddle (see fiddle); the failure of the change from /ðl/ to /dl/ may be because of the intervening schwa in the word's uninflected forms, influence from the verb, or most likely, a dialectal development (compare stathel besides staddle).