concubine
/ˈkɑŋkjəbaɪn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.82 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A sexual partner, especially a woman, to whom one is not or cannot be married.
noun
A woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife.
noun
A slave-girl or woman, kept for instance in a harem, who is held for sexual service.
Example Sentences
- "And that is more than I will yield unto: / I know I am too mean to be your queen, / And yet too good to be your concubine."
- "He ſhall be made a chaſte and luſtleſſe Eunuch, And in my Sarell tend my Concubines:"
- "And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead. And I took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel: for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel."
- "Solomon, who was one of the Deity's favorities, had a copulation cabinet composed of seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines."
Etymology
From Middle English concubine (first attested 1250–1300), from Anglo-Norman concubine, from Latin concubīna, equivalent to concub- (variant stem of concumbō (“to lie together”)) + feminine suffix -īna.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *ḱewb-, concubine, concubīna
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɑŋkjəbaɪn/