Hiren

English

Etymology

From the name of a character in George Peele's The Turkish Mahamet and Hyrin the fair Greek; originally a version of the name Irene.

Noun

Hiren (plural Hirens)

  1. (rare) A seductive woman; a courtesan.
    • 1600, William Shakespeare, King Henry IV Part 2, II.4:
      Pistol. Haue we not Hiren here? / Host. On my word Captaine there's none such here.
    • 1615, Thomas Adams, Sprituall Navigator:
      What a number of these Sirens, Hirens, Cockatrices, Courtezans, in plaine English, Harlots, swimme amongst vs!
    • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor (Penguin 2011), page 275:
      I summoned all the twenty hirens of the house (including the sweet-lipped, glossy chinned darling) into my resurrected presence.

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