hetaera
See also: hetæra
English
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Jean-L%C3%A9on_G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me%2C_Phryne_revealed_before_the_Areopagus_%281861%29_-_01.jpg/220px-Jean-L%C3%A9on_G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me%2C_Phryne_revealed_before_the_Areopagus_%281861%29_-_01.jpg)
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἑταῖρα (hetaîra), feminine of ἑταῖρος (hetaîros, “companion”).
Pronunciation
Noun
hetaera (plural hetaerae or hetaeras)
- (historical, Ancient Greece) A highly cultivated hired female companion who would entertain upper-class male clients and might perform sex acts for them.
- Coordinate term: courtesan
- 1957, Lawrence Durrell, Justine:
- But of course our friend is only a shallow twentieth-century reproduction of the great hetairae of the past, the type to which she belongs without knowing it, Lais, Charis and the rest...
- A mistress.
- 1971, Gottfried Benn & E. B. Ashton, Primal vision: selected writings
- Woman is dethroned as the primary and supreme sex, debased into inseminable hetaera.
- 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers:
- Christ appeared, only to reveal himself as the naked god Pan. Ballet of hetaerae and houris, choreography by Italo Castaldi.
- 1971, Gottfried Benn & E. B. Ashton, Primal vision: selected writings
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
hired female companion
Further reading
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English terms with historical senses
- en:Ancient Greece
- English terms with quotations