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concubinage

concubinage

1 9.9
Living with someone as a couple without being legally married
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒŋkjʊbɪnɪdʒ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : concubinato
  • Besides, it is no secret that surrogacy was practiced for centuries in the form of concubinage when a man wanted to have the heir that his wife could not produce.
  • marriage or concubinage
  • clerical concubinage

Examples

  • During the heated and prolonged public debates before the Marriage Reform Law was passed, many men publicly defended concubinage as part of the valuable legacy of Chinese culture that helped to preserve social morality and marriage stability.

    Academic text (2012)
  • But Uchendu's (1965) study of concubinage in traditional Igbo society suggests that in the past, women also had institutionalized access to lovers.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Jewish law also had an elaborate set of rules governing concubinage, which was a great deal for men who could afford it.

    Academic text (2011)
  • For comely female slaves, it could mean a life of concubinage, as they were frequently bought for that purpose.

    Academic text (1994)
  • In several parts of the Bible, polygamy and concubinage are endorsed.

    Blog text (34)
  • The reform issues facing the Church as an institution during his lifetime were simony, clerical concubinage, and the sexual immorality of monks and clergy.

    Academic text (2004)
  • In Islam, the mechanism for controlling illicit sexual desire, whether heterosexual or homosexual, is marriage or concubinage.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Uchendu (1965) confirms the existence of passionate love in his study of concubinage in traditional Igbo society.

    Academic text (2001)
  • In 1971, the Marriage Reform Law was passed, which abolished concubinage, established monogamy, and recognized a woman's right to inheritance (Tsang xiv-xvii).

    Academic text (2012)
  • In ancient societies, concubinage allowed men to have multiple partners without the formal ties of marriage.

Synonyms

cohabitation
vsconcubinage
  • NSFW
9 5.1

Living together as a couple and having sex without being married

is used in historical or legal contexts rather than general modern situations
nonmarriage
vsconcubinage
  • Specialized
7.7

A romantic relationship between partners that has no legal recognition

focuses specifically on living together as a couple often in legal history

How Legal

marriage
1.0
common-law marriage
  • Specialized
2 4.3
cohabitation
  • NSFW
9 5.1
concubinage
  • Archaic
1 9.9
dating
357 1.6

Surface Forms

concubinage singular
concubinages plural

Morphology

concubinage = concubine (semi-transparent) = concubine + age

The word is built from 'concubine' plus the state/condition suffix '-age', but the historical/legal sense is not fully predictable from the parts alone.

Etymology

Concubinage comes from the Latin parts con- 'together' and cubare 'to lie down', and is linked to the word concubine, which originally meant someone who shared a bed without marriage; so concubinage now refers to living with a partner in a relationship that is not a legal marriage.