Harlot

In modern, popular usage of the word, a harlot is a prostitute, particularly a female one.

Etymology

The word surfaced around the beginning of the 13th century. At that time, the word harlot was used to refer to a man and meant "a man of no fixed occupation, vagabond, beggar", and soon afterwards used to mean "male lecher".

In the 14th century, it began to be used to refer to women. How this meaning developed from the male sense is not clear. For a time, the word could also refer to a juggler or jester of either sex, but by the close of the 17th century the word referred exclusively to women.

Use of the word in popular culture
*The British heavy metal band Iron Maiden wrote a song entitled "Charlotte the Harlot" from the band's first album, entitled Iron Maiden.
*Avenged Sevenfold have a song called "Beast and the Harlot" from their album City of Evil.
*The Polish black/death metal band Behemoth has a song entitled "The Harlot of the Saints", from their album Zos Kia Cvltvs: Here and Beyond.
*Psyclon Nine have a song titled "Harlot" on their album INRI.
*Helltown Harlots are a psychobilly band from Las Vegas, Nevada
*Harlot is a hard rock band from Greensboro, North Carolina
*War From A Harlots Mouth is a grindcore band from Berlin, Germany
*Graduate students at Ohio State University have started a digital magazine and web forum titled Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion . The name is derived from the traditional disparagement of "rhetoric" as "the harlot of the arts."
* In the series the carnivale.. a young "dancer" from the coochy tent( prostitute) is hang by a group of miners and found by a collegue " carni". In her forhead is carved the word " Harlot"

Notes and references

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See Also

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