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This week’s words
Carrollian
hiren


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PRONUNCIATION:

(HY-ruhn)

MEANING:

noun: A seductive woman.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Hiren, a character in the lost play The Turkish Mahomet and Hiren the Fair Greek (1594), attributed to George Peele. The name Hiren is a variant of Irene. Earliest documented use: 1600.

NOTES:

In the story, during the Ottoman sultan Mahomet’s conquest of Constantinople, one of his captains presents him with a young Greek named Hiren. He becomes so besotted with her that he neglects affairs of state. When his adviser complains, Mahomet proves he can master his passions by beheading Hiren. Because, apparently, one cannot rule an empire, wage wars, and love a woman at the same time.

USAGE:

“I summoned all the twenty hirens of the house (including the sweet-lipped, glossy chinned darling) into my resurrected presence.”
Vladimir Nabokov; Ada, or Ardor; McGraw-Hill; 1969.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: