concubine
English edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Noun edit
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, [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 […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; 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, 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, Mark Twain, “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 edit
Translations edit
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 edit
References edit
- Random House Unabridged Dictionary
- “concubine”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Dutch concubine, from Middle French concubine, from Old French [Term?], from Latin concubīna.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
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 edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin concubīna.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
concubine f (plural concubines, masculine concubin)
- cohabitant, female domestic partner
- concubine
Further reading edit
- “concubine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
concubine f
Latin edit
Noun edit
concubīne
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Anglo-Norman concubine, from Latin concubīna.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
concubine (plural concubines)
- A concubine; a secondary female partner.
- (rare) A illegitimate or unacknowledged partner (male or female)
Descendants edit
- English: concubine
References edit
- “concūbīn(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.