▪ I. ‖ serai1
(səˈraɪ)
Forms: 7 sarray, sera, seraw(e, serray, suray, surroie, 7, 9 sarai, -ay, 8 serauee, 9 seraee, seray, -oy, 8– serai.
[a. Turkish (orig. Persian) serāī lodging, residence, palace. Cf. seraglio, serail.]
1. In various Eastern countries, A building for the accommodation of travellers; a caravanserai.
| 1609 W. Finch in Purchas Pilgrims (1625) I. 434 By it the great Saray, besides which are diuers others..wherein diuers neate lodgings are to be let. c 1616 Ibid. 520 Euery fiue or sixe Course, there are Seraes built..for the..entertainment of Trauellers. 1782 G. Forster Journ. (1798) I. 74 The stationary tenants of the serauee..approach the traveller on his entrance. 1793 W. Hodges Trav. India 32 The lodgings of the traveller in India are the serais, or caravanserais,..as they are called in Europe. 1800 Asiatic Ann. Reg. 281/1 A handsome seray built of stone. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. Prel. Rem. (1876) 8 The seraees for travellers..owe their existence to the enlightened self-interest of the better order of princes. 1879 W. Wakefield Happy Valley 35 These serais..generally consist of a large square stone building. 1895 Outing (U.S) XXVI. 467/2 A ‘Serai’ covers a space about 150 feet square or larger, and is built around a quadrangular court with a continuous veranda. |
† b. ? A warehouse. = seraglio 5. Obs.
| 1619 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) 103 The goods have since been taken to Bershanpur, and placed in the common ‘sera’. |
2. A Turkish palace; esp. the palace of the Sultan at Constantinople.
| 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 68 The Sultans or Emperours Pallace (vulgarly called Saray, and by the Italians Seraglio). 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 117 Nothing more observable in the Town than the Serrays and [etc.]. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxxvii, The Serai's impenetrable tower. 1869 H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 230 Having sent..to the Pasha to ask for horses, we thought it right to pay him a visit in his serai. |
¶ 3. Misused for seraglio 1: A harem.
| 1813 Byron Giaour 444 Not thus was Hassan wont to fly When Leila dwelt in his Serai. |
▪ II. ‖ serai2
(səˈraɪ)
Also 7 sou-, sowray, 9 surahee, -hi, surai, suraiee.
[Anglo-Indian, repr. Urdu (orig. Arab.) {cced}urāḥī.]
‘A long-necked earthenware (or metal) flagon for water’ (Yule).
| 1672 tr. Bernier's Hist. Rev. Emp. Gt. Mogol IV. 10 A Souray of the water of Ganges... Sowray is that Tin-flagon full of water, which the Servant that marcheth on foot before the Gentleman on horseback, carrieth in his hand. 1808 Elphinstone in Colebrooke Life (1884) I. 199 We had..two surahees of water [etc.]. 1825–9 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor V. xxix. 47 She broke a serai of water. 1859 Lang Wand. India 145 Hold hard, syce, and give me the suraiee (water-bottle). 1874 H. H. Cole Catal. Ind. Art S. Kens. Mus. 144 A surai..with a long neck and flat bulged base. |