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Concubine
5 dictionary results for: concubine
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
con·cu·bine       [kong-kyuh-bahyn, kon-] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.a woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not legally married, esp. one regarded as socially or sexually subservient; mistress.
2.(among polygamous peoples) a secondary wife, usually of inferior rank.
3.(esp. formerly in Muslim societies) a woman residing in a harem and kept, as by a sultan, for sexual purposes.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME (< AF) < L concubīna, equiv. to concub- (var. s. of concumbere to lie together; see con-, incumbent) + -īna fem. suffix]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
con·cu·bine       (kŏng'kyə-bīn', kŏn'-)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. Law A woman who cohabits with a man without being legally married to him.
  2. In certain societies, such as imperial China, a woman contracted to a man as a secondary wife, often having few legal rights and low social status.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin concubīna : com-, com- + cubāre, to lie down.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
concubine 
1297, from L. concubina (fem.), from concumbere "to lie with," from com- "with" + cubare "to lie down." Recognized by law among polygamous peoples as "a secondary wife."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
concubine

noun
a woman who cohabits with an important man 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Concubine

Con"cu*bine\, n. [F., fr. L. concubina; con- + cubare to lie down, concumbere to lie together, akin to E. cubit.]

1. A woman who cohabits with a man without being his wife; a paramour.

Note: Concubine has been sometimes, but rarely, used of a male paramour as well as of a female. --Trench.

2. A wife of inferior condition; a lawful wife, but not united to the man by the usual ceremonies, and of inferior condition. Such were Hagar and Keturah, the concubines of Abraham; and such concubines were allowed by the Roman laws. Their children were not heirs of their father.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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