concubine
24
9.1
- noun
- /ˈkɒŋkjʊˌbaɪn/
- Archaic
:
concubina
- After many years, she realized she did not want to remain a concubine and sought independence.
- wives and concubines
- kept as concubines
- other concubines
She says I would rather be your concubine or whore than than be your wife.
- She says I would rather be your concubine or whore than than be your wife.
- Somebody who had left them comes back or they get their husband to leave his, leave his, you know, concubine or mistress and come back to the family.
- And and to cap it all off, Agamemnon comes back and he's he's got a war captive that he's taken essentially as a concubine, right?
- Now these are the children of Fredegund, the lower status but extremely powerful concubine wife, whatever you want to call her.
- More time is spent going over a youthful prank involving stealing pears from an orchard, then on Augustine's concubine.
Examples
-
His father kept a concubine, a detail which Peter's hagiographer does not report with reproach or shame.
Academic text (2007) -
I vow to keep her, honor her, and take no concubines without her consent.
Fiction book (1999) -
Yet, during the interval before the scheduled wedding, he took on another concubine to while away the hours.
Academic text (2010) -
Who was she to think she was worthy to be his wife or even his concubine?
Fiction book (2001) -
Forgive me, my beloved concubine.
-
Plenty of the women did away with themselves, or their families sold them as concubines.
Fiction book (1990) -
In that case, the Dimeov's concubines were all jealous.
-
From her tiny bedchamber in the Edo Castle women's quarters, the shogun's newest concubine heard hurrying.
Fiction book (2000) -
In ancient China, a wealthy man often had a concubine who lived in his household alongside his wife.
-
The king's concubine was given a separate palace and special privileges, although her status was lower than that of the queen.
Synonyms
151
7.2
A woman who has a long sexual relationship with a married man
4
3.9
A person you live with in a long-term romantic relationship but are not married to
1
8.4
A woman who a lover pays for, often when he is married to someone else
A person who lives with someone as a couple without being married
A person who lives with a romantic partner without being married
How Legal
∞
1.0
- Specialized
2
4.3
878
1.1
- Archaic
24
9.1
- NSFW
151
7.2
272
1.0
Surface Forms
Etymology
Concubine comes from the Latin parts con- 'with' and cubare 'to lie down'. It literally meant someone who 'lies with' a man, which helps explain why a concubine is a woman who lives with a man but is not his wife and often has lower status.