what his a harem?

Answer 1

Coming from the Arab tradition, the harîm حريم (compare haram) is the part of the household forbidden to male strangers. The world knows the harem by way of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself means privacy that is very respected and honored.

In Western languages such as English, this term refers collectively to the women in any polygynous household as well as the "no men allowed" area, or in more modern usage to a number of women followers or admirers of a man.
ALSO
The part of a house set apart for the women of the family in Muslim countries.
The Arabic word 'harem' can be translated as 'forbidden' or 'secluded'. In only rare cases, is it correct to render 'harem' as a group of wives, which is the standard Western understanding of the word. This use of the word only applied to very rich households. In such a situation, the harem denoted the collection of women who were at free disposal of the male owner. The women of the harem were not wives, but their position was not comparable to that of a prostitute's.
Another meaning of harem — rarely used in Western languages, but important in Arabic — was to denote an area where uninvited or unworthy had no access. Hence, Mecca and the surrounding area is a harem — a religious harem. Into this harem, only Muslims are allowed to enter.
While the harem was firmly established as an institution in the society and in individual families, it spread with Islam to areas beyond the Middle East and into North Africa.

Answer 2

1 A house or a section of a house reserved for women members of a Muslim household.
2 The wives, concubines, female relatives, and servants occupying such a place.
3 A group of women sexual partners for one man.

[Turkish, from Arabic ḥarīm, forbidden place, from ḥarama, to prohibit.]

Answer 3

a harem is a group of wives or concubines all belonging to one man, they are allowed no contact with any other men, even their guards are eunuchs. they are at the beck and call of their master who literally holds their lives in his hands.