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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[OE.

brothel

brodel

brethel

, a prostitute, a worthless fellow, fr. AS.

beróðan

to ruin, destroy; cf. AS.

breótan

to break, and E.

brittle

. The term

brothel house

was confused with

bordel

brothel. CF.

A house of lewdness or ill fame; a house frequented by prostitutes; a bawdyhouse.

Noun.

[A dialectical orthography of bordel, which see.]

A house of lewdness; a house appropriated to the purposes of prostitution; a bawdy house; a stew.