concubine
English
Etymology
From Middle English concubine (first attested 1250–1300), from Anglo-Norman concubine, from Latin concubīna, equivalent to concub- (variant stem of concumbō (“to lie together”)) + feminine suffix -īna.
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɑŋkjəbaɪn/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
concubine (plural concubines)
- A sexual partner, especially a woman, to whom one is not or cannot be married.
- Synonyms: mistress, sprunk; see also Thesaurus:sexual partner, Thesaurus:mistress
- A woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife.
- Synonyms: cohabitor, cohabitant, domestic partner
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:
- And that is more than I will yield unto: / I know I am too mean to be your queen, / And yet too good to be your concubine.
- (chiefly historical) A slave-girl or woman, kept for instance in a harem, who is held for sexual service.
- Synonym: odalisque
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
- He ſhall be made a chaſte and luſtleſſe Eunuch,
And in my Sarell tend my Concubines:
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Judges 20:4–6:
- And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead. And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel.
- c. 1909, Twain, Mark, “Letter VIII”, in Letters from the Earth:
- Solomon, who was one of the Deity's favorities, had a copulation cabinet composed of seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.
Derived terms
- concubinage
Translations
a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
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slave-girl — see slave-girl
mistress — see mistress
See also
- harem
- polygamy
- co-wife
- seraglio
References
- Random House Unabridged Dictionary
- concubine at OneLook Dictionary Search
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch concubine, from Middle French concubine, from Old French [Term?], from Latin concubīna.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌkɔŋ.kyˈbi.nə/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: con‧cu‧bi‧ne
- Rhymes: -inə
Noun
concubine f (plural concubines or concubinen, masculine concubaan or concubant)
- concubine
- Synonyms: bijvrouw, bijwijf, bijzit, bijzitster
- (Suriname) female partner in a common-law marriage
Derived terms
- concubinaat
French
Etymology
Latin concubīna
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ̃.ky.bin/
Audio (file)
Noun
concubine f (plural concubines, masculine concubin)
- cohabitant, female domestic partner
- concubine
Further reading
- “concubine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kon.kuˈbi.ne/
- Rhymes: -ine
- Hyphenation: con‧cu‧bì‧ne
Noun
concubine f
- plural of concubina
Latin
Noun
concubīne
- vocative singular of concubīnus
Middle English
Alternative forms
- concubyne, concubyn, concubin
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman concubine, from Latin concubīna.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔnkiu̯ˈbiːn(ə)/
Noun
concubine (plural concubines)
- A concubine; a secondary female partner.
- (rare) A illegitimate or unacknowledged partner (male or female)
Descendants
- English: concubine
References
- “concūbīn(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.