Bordellos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Establishments where individuals can engage in sexual activities in exchange for money
2. Venues dedicated to the provision of sexual services, often managed in a commercial manner
3. Places that facilitate sexual transactions between clients and workers for financial compensation

Etymology: "Bordellos" is simply the plural of "bordello," so the story belongs to the singular. The Italian "bordello" was a diminutive of "borda," a Latin-derived word for a hut or cabin, so a bordello was originally a little hut or small dwelling. Its sense shifted from humble shelter to a house of prostitution, a change that passed into English from Italian. The word is a doublet of "bordel," a French form of the same root, and it is distantly related to "brothel." Both trace back to an ancient root meaning "to carve, cut, split, or rub," which is an unexpected kinship between a term for a simple shelter and a word for a brothel.

Synonyms: brothels, houses of ill repute, whorehouses, red-light districts, cat houses