brothel

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɔθəl/, /ˈbɹɔðəl/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɒθəl/, (obsolete) /ˈbɹɒðəl/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɑθəl/, /ˈbɹɑðəl/

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• Rhymes: -ɒθəl, -ɒðəl
• Hyphenation: broth‧el

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.

brothel (plural brothels)

1. A house of prostitution.

See also Thesaurus:brothel

• escort agency
• red-light district
• prostitute

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).

brothel (plural brothels)

1. (obsolete) A wretch; a depraved or lewd person.

• Holbert, blother