It's for a fictional novel, but in modern reality. Like, "damn your parents didn't see each other equals?" But that intent for any existing word on the topic with a different etymology could be made clear though narrational context. So it's ethical to give me a really good one.
1
-
First prince then possibly sultan…or like Ishmael of the Ishmaelites? I think you mean like William the Bastard, aka William the Conqueror, not a "harem" per se.– HippoSawrUsCommented Apr 15 at 7:57
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
Depending on how pejorative you want to be, and how acceptable being "in a harem" is, you might consider the old word "whoreson". It means exactly what it looks like, although "whore" was often used for a woman who had sex without marriage, not just one to accepted money for sex. It's very insulting.
-
1
-
I like this one a lot, I view the inequality in a harem relationship to be one where the wives are used as sex objects, which is akin whore. I like fils de clébard as well, to accentuate the inequality of the relation between parents. Commented Apr 20 at 23:40
Bastard is commonly used for your case. It is sometimes considered profane depending on the context (especially definition 1) but it's a perfectly valid English word:
Cambridge Dictionary - Bastard
- An unpleasant person:
You lied to me, you bastard!
- Old use: A person born to parents who are not married to each other:
He was born in 1798, the bastard son of a country squire and his mistress.
In your case, definition two would be appropriate, and was (still is in some circles) often used pejoratively.
-
2
-
1I like this and it's the feel I'd like the eventual word to have, but my understanding is that these harems are interpreted as polygamy, which is marriage in a sense. Commented Apr 15 at 3:42
-
1@StephenBoisvert - There are wives, concubines and other female members of a household in a harem. A woman in a harem can be married, but not necessarily is she married. Perhaps bastard isn't entirely appropriate because some women in a harem are indeed married. But in western societies, at least since medieval times, harems and polygamy have not been acceptable. So there may not be a better term in modern English, and bastard is often pejorative and connotes the harem style licentiousness you seem to be looking for. Perhaps someone will find a better term.– VectorCommented Apr 15 at 4:50
-
1@StephenBoisvert - Love Child is another, more modern term, that is also used. But, like bastard, it means a child from an unmarried couple, nor is it as pejorative as bastard. Love Child :
A child whose parents are not married to each other.– VectorCommented Apr 15 at 5:02