Etymologically
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concubina

Etymology and origin of the Latin word concubina

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (concumbō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin concubina
English concubine

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɔŋ.kʊˈbiː.na][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koŋ.kuˈbiː.na][1]

Forms

concubīna f (genitive concubīnae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin concumbō (“to lie with”) + -īna.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Plautus.[4][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a concubine.[2] Georges describes her as a woman, such as a freedwoman, living as wife with an unmarried man when she could not legally be his wife, as distinct from the paelex, a married man's mistress.[6] Cicero uses it in the De Oratore.[4]

English concubine was borrowed around 1300, also of the secondary wives of Hebrew, Greek and Roman law.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[4][5]
  • c. 1300 – English concubine is borrowed.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A concubine.[2][1]

Word family

  • concubīnātus

Usage notes

Döderlein says pellex is a married man's bedfellow seen as the wife's rival, while concubina is any woman living with a man without marriage.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Concubina.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/concubina. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·