English

Noun

maison de tolérance ‎(plural maisons de tolérance)

1. A licensed brothel.
   • 1913, Rebecca West, ‘Lynch Law’, The Young Rebecca, ed. Jane Marcus, Virago 1982, p. 209:

     We see abroad in the regulations of the maison de tolerance how a contempt for an immoral person, given its head and encouraged, may become a hellish cruelty threatening even the innocent.

   • 1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1065:

     Lord Galen has been frequenting the maisons de tolérance of the city, and in one of them he ran into Cade, who has suddenly started to take an interest in the low life.

French

Etymology

maison +‎ de +‎ tolérance.

Noun

maison de tolérance f ‎(plural maisons de tolérance)

1. (licensed) brothel, maison de tolérance

Synonyms

• bordel
• maison close