couvade
1
9.9
- noun
- /kuːˈvɑːd/
- Specialized
- Many anthropologists study the couvade as an important cultural practice among indigenous tribes, where men simulate the symptoms of pregnancy.
- practicing the couvade
- custom of couvade
- fathers observe the couvade
Examples
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The couvade acts as a binding force in societies where the marriage link is weak (Douglas 1975).
Academic text (2005) -
The couvade thus seems to prolong and amplify the dietary restrictions imposed on the mother during her pregnancy.
Academic text (2005) -
For sure, the couvade concerns primarily the head of the nuclear family.
Academic text (2005) -
It's called "Couvade Syndrome" or "Sympathetic Pregnancy."
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By practicing the couvade restrictions, a man claims to be a father and publicly demonstrates his willingness to accept paternity.
Academic text (2005) -
When analyzed in its South American regional context, the couvade appears clearly for what it is, i.e., a rite of co-parenthood.
Academic text (2005) -
Like many birth rituals, couvade restrictions are at least as much child-centered as they are parent-focused (Aijmer 1992).
Academic text (2005) -
Most ethnographic accounts of couvade insist that both parents are protecting the infant's vigor and assisting its fast growth through fasting.
Academic text (2005) -
During the ritual, the husband practiced the couvade by staying in bed to share in his wife's experience of pregnancy.
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In some cultures, the couvade is seen as a way for fathers to bond with their newborns by participating in childbirth traditions.
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word couvade comes from the French verb couver, which means 'to brood' or 'to sit on eggs' like a bird. So a couvade is a custom where the father 'broods' by staying in bed or acting as if he were the pregnant one.