concubine

Word family

con·cu·bine /ˈkɒŋkjəbaɪn $ ˈkɑːŋ-/ noun [countableC]

SYSEX/HAVE SEX WITHa woman in the past who lived with and had sex with a man who already had a wife or wives, but who was socially less important than the wives 〔旧时的〕妾，姨太太，小老婆

Examples from the Corpus

concubine• He was the elder brother of Burun's father, the son of a concubine, never acknowledged as heir.• He is refused hospitality by the rich village priest, who lives with a concubine.• Giving up his five wives and dozen concubines, Vladimir demanded that all his subjects in Kiev become baptized.• The priest and his concubine retire; the guest soon seduces the girl with the promise of the sheepskin in payment.• Pharaoh's daughter would probably be a daughter by one of his concubines, not a princess of blood-royal.• On the death of his third wife, Charles lived with no less than three concubines who bore him numerous children.• The priest had to be denounced by his parishioners; many with concubines would have escaped challenge.• There is little doubt that those Roman writers who equate slaves with concubines were telling the truth.

Origin concubine

(1200-1300) Old French Latin concubina, from com- ( → COM-) + cubare “to lie”

con·cu·bine noun

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus