concubine English · revision 945

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɑŋkjəbaɪn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|concubine]], [[bor|fro|concubine]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and directly [[der|la|concubīna]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''concumbere'' “to lie together”,^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) [[af|la|con-|cubāre|t1=with, together|t2=to lie down]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A woman who lives with a man without being married to him (1297 in the OED; about 1300 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) In Rome concubinage, though below marriage, was less shameful than adultery.^(Etymonline) In Middle English, as in Latin, the word could also be used of a man living with a woman without marriage (c. 1430).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – a woman living with a man without marriage.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1430 – a male paramour (obsolete).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1596 – verb, to take as a concubine (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A woman who lives with a man without being married to him; a [[mistress]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In certain societies, such as imperial China, a woman contracted to a man as a secondary wife of lower status and few rights.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A woman kept in a [[harem]] for sexual purposes.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[concubinary]]

+ * [[concubinage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[incubate]]

+ * [[cubicle]]

+ * [[succumb]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}