concubinage
Americannoun
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cohabitation of a man and woman without legal or formal marriage.
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the state or practice of being a concubine.
noun
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cohabitation without legal marriage
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the state of living as a concubine
Etymology
Origin of concubinage
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at concubine, -age
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Terming her concubinage "marriage" she presumptuously sued for a "divorce."
From Time Magazine Archive
There is, for example, the concubinage of inherited wealth.
From Time Magazine Archive
But their marital bliss became clouded, they parted, and Shelley entered concubinage with beautiful Mary Godwin, daughter of his hero-philosopher.
From Time Magazine Archive
The law banned compulsory arranged marriages, concubinage, child betrothal and interference in the remarriage of widows.
From Time Magazine Archive
In outlying districts like Wales, probably also in Ireland, and certainly in parts of Germany, clerical concubinage was systematically tolerated, and only taxed for the benefit of the bishop’s or archdeacon’s purse.
From Chaucer and His England by G. G. Coulton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
