Definition

1. Noun (Archaic; Literary):
   • Harem; gynaeceum: The private, inner quarters of a residence where women, particularly in a feudal or aristocratic context, lived in seclusion.
   • Women's chambers: The specific living area designated for women and unmarried daughters within a traditional household.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trong xã hội phong kiến, các cung tần thường sống trong khuê khổn. (In feudal society, concubines often lived within the harem.)
  • Cô gái trẻ ít khi ra khỏi khuê khổn của gia đình. (The young girl seldom left the women's quarters of her family.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is exclusively used in historical or literary contexts to describe the social and architectural practice of gender segregation in pre-modern Vietnam and similar East Asian societies.

Variants and Related Words

• Khuê phòng (n): A synonym, also meaning a woman's private chamber or boudoir.
  • Thơ nàng viết trong khuê phòng. (The poetry she wrote in her private chamber.)

Synonyms

• Harem: The women's quarters in a polygamous household.
• Gynaeceum: The part of an ancient Greek house reserved for women.
• Women's quarters: A general term for the area where women reside separately.

Related Idioms

• Khuê các: Refers to a woman's private room or pavilion, often with a poetic connotation.
  • Tiếng đàn vọng ra từ khuê các. (The sound of the lute echoed from the women's pavilion.)

1. (cũ; văn chương) Harem,gynaeceum