ser

n. [ It. serraglio, originally, an inclosure of palisades, afterwards also, a palace, seraglio (by confusion with Per. serāïa a palace, an entirely different word), fr. serrare to shut, fr. LL. serra a bar for fastening doors, L. sera. See Serry, Series. ] 1. An inclosure; a place of separation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I went to the Ghetto, where the Jews dwell as in a suburb, by themselves. I passed by the piazza Judea, where their seraglio begins. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The palace of the Grand Seignior, or Turkish sultan, at Constantinople, inhabited by the sultan himself, and all the officers and dependents of his court. In it are also kept the females of the harem. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A harem; a place for keeping wives or concubines; sometimes, loosely, a place of licentious pleasure; a house of debauchery. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Per. serāï, or sarāï, a palace, a king's court, a seraglio, an inn. Cf. Caravansary. ] A palace; a seraglio; also, in the East, a place for the accommodation of travelers; a caravansary, or rest house. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Physiol. CHem.) Serum albumin. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Per. sarhang a commander. ] The boatswain of a Lascar or East Ondian crew. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Sp. Amer. sarape. ] A blanket or shawl worn as an outer garment by the Spanish Americans, as in Mexico. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. E. Seraphs Heb. Seraphim [ Heb. serāphim, pl. ] One of an order of celestial beings, each having three pairs of wings. In ecclesiastical art and in poetry, a seraph is represented as one of a class of angels. Isa. vi. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

As full, as perfect, in vile man that mourns,
As the rapt seraph that adores and burns. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Seraph moth (Zool.), any one of numerous species of geometrid moths of the genus Lobophora, having the hind wings deeply bilobed, so that they seem to have six wings. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Cf. F. séraphique. ] Of or pertaining to a seraph; becoming, or suitable to, a seraph; angelic; sublime; pure; refined. “Seraphic arms and trophies.” Milton. “Seraphical fervor.” Jer. Taylor. -- Se*raph"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Se*raph"ic*al*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The character, quality, or state of a seraph; seraphicalness. [ R. ] Cudworth. [ 1913 Webster ]