sultana
(səlˈtɑːnə, sʌl-)
Also 7 sultanna, 9 sultanah; pl. 7 sultanaes, 7–8 -a's.
[a. It. (Sp., Pg.) sultana fem. of sultano sultan.]
1. a. The wife (or a concubine) of a sultan; also, the queen-mother or some other woman of a sultan's family.
| 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xviii. 51 The Sarail of Sultana, wife to the great Turke. 1599 Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakluyt Soc.) 60 One houre after him [sc. the Grand Sinyor] came the Sultana his mother. 1625 Purchas Pilgrims II. ix. xv. §1. 1581 The Queene, the other Sultanaes, and all the Kings women. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2198/1 The Grand Signior offers all his Treasure to be employed in the War. The Sultana 4000 Purses, of 500 Crowns each. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 509 The bright Sultanas of his Court Appear. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 467/1 A Sultana, inclosed in a Seraglio, shall govern the whole Ottoman Empire. 1822 Byron Juan vi. lxxxix, Rose the sultana from a bed of splendour. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 231 Had not Hadassah been a sultana in the seraglio of Xerxes? |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1838 Moore Mem. (1856) VII. 232 Took my place in the front of Nell's box, between two very pretty sultanas she had provided for me, Georgiana O'Kelly and Miss Burne. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xlviii, The elderly sultanas of our Vanity Fair. 1850 ― Pendennis vii, It was hard..that the matron should be deposed to give place to such a Sultana. 1864 Rawlinson Anc. Mon., Assyria vii. II. 168 The monarch and his sultana. |
2. A mistress, concubine.
| 1702 Farquhar Twin-Rivals v. i, I'll visit my Sultana in state. 1796 C. Smith Marchmont I. 78 A person who in youth only was superior to his reigning Sultana. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxvi, The favourite sultana of the last Laird, as scandal went—the housekeeper of the present. 1885 Molloy Royalty Restored II. 83 Her card tables were thronged by courtiers eager to squander large sums for the honour of playing with the reigning sultana. |
| fig. 1813 Byron Giaour 22 The Rose,..Sultana of the Nightingale. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. vi, Shine on, (bright moon) sultana of the soul! |
† 3. = sultanin.
Obs. rare—0.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Sultanin, or Sultana, a Turkish coin of gold worth about Seven shillings six pence. |
† 4. = sultane 3.
Obs.| a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. xlvi, Those great Ladies..with their Flandan, Top-knots and Sultana's. 1693 Southerne Maid's last Prayer ii. i, [It] wou'd as ill become me, as a Sultana does a fat body. |
† 5. A Turkish war-vessel. (
Cf. sultane 4.)
Obs. exc. Hist.| 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Sultana is also a Turkish Vessel. 1733 Budgell Bee I. 74 The Grand Seignior is equipping a Squadron of Ten Sultana's. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 167/2 The Fleet for the Black Sea will be reinforc'd by several Sultanas. [1810 Naval Chron. XXIV. 377 The term Sultana is a nonentity.] 1935 P. P. Argenti Occupation of Chios by Venetians (1694) p. xxxix, The enemy fleet..consisted of twenty great sultanas, and thirty galleys and galliots, all under the command of the Capoudàn Pasha. |
6. Any bird belonging to either of the genera
Porphyrio and
Ionornis, found chiefly in the W. Indies, southern
U.S.A., and Australia; the purple gallinule or porphyrio. Also
attrib.| 1837 Partington's Brit. Cycl., Nat. Hist. II. 609/2 Sultana Hen (Gallinula porphyrio). 1840 Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 249 The Common Sultana (Fulica porphyrio, Lin.), a beautiful African species. 1870 Gillmore tr. Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 297 The Hyacinthine Gallinule..or Sultana Fowl, is..an exaggeration of the Water Hen. 1872 A. Domett Ranolf xiv. iv, Black Sultana-birds. |
7. In full
sultana raisin: A kind of small seedless raisin produced in the neighbourhood of Smyrna and other parts of Turkey, Greece, and Australia.
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 274/1 Muscatels, blooms, sultanas, raisins of the sun, and lexias. 1855 E. Acton Mod. Cookery (rev. ed.) xxi. 442 Sultana raisins are well adapted to these puddings, as they contain no pips. 1873 Punch 27 Dec. 262/1 Oysters, forcemeat balls, plovers' eggs, and Sultana raisins. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 258/2 Sultana seedless raisins are the produce of a small variety of yellow grape. 1920 C. L. T. Beeching Mod. Grocer & Provision Dealer III. viii. 163 The sultana raisin may be said to share in the good qualities of both the currant and the Valencia. 1938 C. J. Elliott Retail Grocery Trade xii. 108 The Australian sultana is a little larger than the Turkey and Smyrna variety. 1966 A. Uttley Recipes from Old Farmhouse 58 Add one ounce of sugar and one ounce of sultanas. |
8. A confection of sugar.
| [1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Sultane (Fr.),..among Confectioners, a kind of Sugar-work made of Eggs, Powder-sugar, and fine Flower.] 1862 Francatelli Royal Eng. & For. Confect. 282 A Sultana made of Spun Sugar in the form of a Summer Bower. |
9. (See
quot.)
| 1875 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms, Sultana, a violin with strings of wire in pairs, like the cither or cittern. It was similar to the Streichzither. |
10. = busy Lizzie s.v. busy a. 11;
patient Lucy s.v. patient a. 5.
| 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xxvi. 360 The church was decorated with..donations of house plants; sultanas and geraniums, aspidistras and coleas [sic]. 1977 [see patient a. 5]. |
11. attrib. and
Comb.:
sultana grape, the white seedless grape from which sultanas are made;
sultana mother, the mother of the reigning sultan;
sultana queen, the favourite concubine of a sultan; hence, a favourite mistress; also
fig. (See also 6 and 7.)
| 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 666 *Sultana Grape... The white or yellow grape..produces the Sultana raisin. 1931 C. L. T. Beeching Law's Grocer's Man. (ed. 3) 513/2 The vine which grows the sultana grape is vigorous and upright. 1979 Illustr. London News Jan. 66/3 The sultana grape vineyards start a few kilometres to the east of Ayios Nikolaos. |
| 1695 Lond. Gaz. No. 3088/2 Who was advanced to that Station by the Interest of the *Sultana Mother. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) II. xiii. vii. 326 The greatest part..he sent to the sultan, the sultana mother, and the kislar aga. |
| 1668 Dryden Secret Love iii. i, You are my *Sultana Queen, the rest are but in the nature of your Slaves. 1845 Disraeli Sybil v. i, The victim of sauntering, his sultana queen. |
Hence
sulˈtanaship, the position of a sultana.
| 1847 James Russell vi, ‘Very well, then,’ he rejoined, with a bitter sneer, ‘you will soon be one of a harem! I wish you joy of your sultanaship!’ |