hə̇ˈtirə noun
or he·tai·ra -ˈtīrə
( plural hetae·rae -i(ˌ)rē ; or hetaeras or hetairas -_rəz ; or hetai·rai -īˌrī)
Etymology: Greek hetaira, literally, companion, feminine of hetairos comrade, companion
1. : one of a class of highly cultivated courtesans in ancient Greece
2. : demimondaine
the lady in the canary-colored carriage was New York's first fashionable hetaera — Harper's
a hair-pulling fight between two drunken hetaerae over a free spender — American Mercury