concubine

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɑŋkjəbaɪn/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English concubine, borrowed from Old French concubine,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} and directly from Latin concubīna,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from concumbere “to lie together”,^[4][6] from Latin con- (“with, together”) + cubāre (“to lie down”).^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A woman who lives with a man without being married to him (1297 in the OED; about 1300 in Barnhart).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word was also used, of the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans and other peoples whose laws recognized the position, for a secondary wife of lower status.^[4][7][6] In Rome concubinage, though below marriage, was less shameful than adultery.^[4] In Middle English, as in Latin, the word could also be used of a man living with a woman without marriage (c. 1430).^[7][4]

Timeline

• 1297 – a woman living with a man without marriage.^[7]
• c. 1430 – a male paramour (obsolete).^[7][4]
• 1596 – verb, to take as a concubine (obsolete).^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A woman who lives with a man without being married to him; a mistress.
2. In certain societies, such as imperial China, a woman contracted to a man as a secondary wife of lower status and few rights.
3. A woman kept in a harem for sexual purposes.

Word family

• concubinary
• concubinage

Related words

• incubate
• cubicle
• succumb

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press