brothel

[ broth-uhl, broth-, braw-thuhl, -thuhl ]

noun

1. a house of prostitution.

brothel

/ ˈbrɒθəl /

noun

1. a house or other place where men pay to have sexual intercourse with prostitutes
2. informal.
   any untidy or messy place

Other Words From

• brothel·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of brothel¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, for an earlier sense; short for brothel-house “whorehouse”; Middle English brothel “harlot,” originally, “worthless person,” from broth- (past participle stem of brethen, Old English brēothan “to decay, degenerate”) + -el, noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of brothel¹

C16: short for brothel-house , from C14 brothel useless person, from Old English brēothan to deteriorate; related to briethel worthless

Example Sentences

An underground tunnel used for torturing people and a brothel were found during investigations at Félix-Houphouët-Boigny University in the main city of Abidjan, the authorities say.

From BBC

But although his new project, centered on a brothel, may return him to familiar terrain, it could be very different in another regard.

From Los Angeles Times

For a while after graduating, Sir Keir lived above a brothel in north London.

From BBC

Raucous late-night stag and hen dos, pop-up brothels and drug dens are plaguing the neighbours of some short-term holiday lets, MPs have warned.

From BBC

There, the hard-working seven-person cast of “Dark Noon,” which opened on Monday, spends much of the production’s 105 minutes assembling the edifices of westward-creeping American civilization, from home to brothel to church to jail.

From New York Times

Related Words

• bordello
• red-light district