Seraglio.

Seraglio. an Italian word meaning 'enclosure' (from sera, 'a bolt'), once used in English for any enclosure such as the Jews' Ghetto at Rome, but now restricted to mean a harem or suite of women's apartments, apparently from a confusion with the similar but totally distinct Persian (and Turkish) word serai, 'a king's court,' 'palace,' also 'a caravanserai.' The Seraglio (eski serai, 'old palace'), the ancient residence of the sultan at Constantinople, stands in a beautiful situation, where Stamboul juts farthest into the Bosphorus, and encloses within its walls a variety of mosques, gardens, and large edifices, the chief of which is the Harem (q.v.). It is not now the residence of the sultans; see CONSTANTINOPLE.