User Contributed Dictionary
Noun
harlots- Plural of harlot
Extensive Definition
In modern, popular usage of the word, a harlot is
a prostitute,
particularly a female one. In the original meaning of the word, a
harlot was a woman who engaged in sacred
prostitution.
Etymology
Biblical references
The first known appearance of the word is in the
Hebrew
Bible, referring to a woman who engages in sacred
prostitution, a part of a pagan fertility ritual in ancient
times. The motivation for the sexual activity was primarily
religious in nature.
In modern English translations the major
distinction between harlot and prostitute is lost, and this changes
the significance of the description.
More recent usage
The word resurfaced again around the beginning of
the 13th century in a work written in English. 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 http://www.harlotofthearts.org/. The name is derived from the traditional disparagement of "rhetoric" as "the harlot of the arts."