houri
/ˈhʊəri
/noun (plural houris)
A beautiful young woman, especially one of the virgin companions of the faithful in the Muslim Paradise.They could select 70 of their nearest and dearest to enter Heaven; and they would have at their disposal 72 houris, the beautiful virgins of paradise, Hassan recounted in the New Yorker....
- In the gardens of paradise, the houris utter only one word: ‘Peace, peace.'
- According to the Qu'ran, the houris have never been touched by man or jinn.
Origin
Mid 18th century: from French, from Persian ḥūrī, from Arabic ḥūr, plural of 'aḥwar 'having eyes with a marked contrast of black and white'.