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Glite Dictionary
brothel keeper

brothel keeper

1 9.9
A person who manages a brothel where people pay for sex
  • noun
  • NSFW
translation icon : madame

Examples

  • Since money has no smell, every Jewish casino owner in America and every Jewish brothel keeper in Europe was invited to join the effort.

    Blog text (22)

  • The brothel keeper ensured that all the workers were treated fairly and paid their wages on time.

  • After years of operating the establishment, the brothel keeper decided to retire and sell the business.

  • Local authorities arrested the brothel keeper for running an illegal operation in the city.

Synonyms

madam
vsbrothel keeper
  • NSFW
26 9.5

A woman who runs a house where people pay for sex

is the gender-neutral term for someone who manages such a house
bawd
vsbrothel keeper
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A woman who runs a place where people pay for sex

focuses mainly on managing the place rather than arranging others' prostitution

Surface Forms

brothel keeper singular
brothel keepers plural

Morphology

brothel + keeper

The meaning is directly compositional: 'brothel' (an establishment offering sex services) combined with 'keeper' (a person who manages or looks after something) yields a person who manages a brothel. This regular compound pattern is common in English and cross‑linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Brothel keeper comes from the simple idea of a keeper as someone who looks after a brothel, holding the keys and caring for the house. So it means 'a person who manages or runs a brothel' today.