concubinage

[kon-kyoo-buh-nij, kong-]

noun

1. cohabitation of a man and woman without legal or formal marriage.

2. the state or practice of being a concubine.

Word History and Origins

Origin of concubinage¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; concubine, -age

Example Sentences

"In the meantime, they are considered by the Church to be living in concubinage because their traditional marriage has no canonical value," he said in a paper published in 1994.

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In retaliation, Woodhull used her paper to expose one of her chief accusers, prominent minister Henry Ward Beecher, for his life “in concubinage with the wife of another.”

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She might have had a cheating husband who lived “in concubinage” with another woman in the Caribbean while Prince was busy fighting slavery in England.

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In recent times Muslim rebels in Sudan as well as in Nigeria have used such arcane justifications to excuse enforced concubinage.

Read more on Economist

In contrast, concubinage, which has no status, draws its only legitimacy from the love and affection shared by the couple.

Read more on New York Times