concubine

[ kong-kyuh-bahyn, kon- ]
See synonyms for: concubineconcubines on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not legally married, especially one regarded as socially or sexually subservient; mistress.

  2. (among polygamous peoples) a secondary wife, usually of inferior rank.

  1. (especially formerly in Muslim societies) a woman residing in a harem and kept, as by a sultan, for sexual purposes.

Origin of concubine

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin concubīna, equivalent to concub- (variant stem of concumbere “to lie together”; see con-, incumbent) + -īna, feminine suffix

Words Nearby concubine

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How to use concubine in a sentence

  • The slave who is captured in war and carried away as a concubine appears only at a far later stage of culture.

British Dictionary definitions for concubine

concubine

/ (ˈkɒŋkjʊˌbaɪn, ˈkɒn-) /


noun
  1. (in polygamous societies) a secondary wife, usually of lower social rank

  2. a woman who cohabits with a man

Origin of concubine

1
C13: from Old French, from Latin concubīna, from concumbere to lie together, from cubare to lie

Derived forms of concubine

  • concubinary (kɒŋˈkjʊbɪnərɪ), noun, adjective

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