'Concubine' definitions:
Definition of 'concubine'
From: WordNet
Definition of 'Concubine'
From: GCIDE
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- Note: Concubine has been sometimes, but rarely, used of a male paramour as well as of a female. --Trench. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Concubine'
From: Easton
- Concubine in the Bible denotes a female conjugally united to a man, but in a relation inferior to that of a wife. Among the early Jews, from various causes, the difference between a wife and a concubine was less marked than it would be amongst us. The concubine was a wife of secondary rank. There are various laws recorded providing for their protection (Ex. 21:7; Deut. 21:10-14), and setting limits to the relation they sustained to the household to which they belonged (Gen. 21:14; 25:6). They had no authority in the family, nor could they share in the household government.
- The immediate cause of concubinage might be gathered from the conjugal histories of Abraham and Jacob (Gen. 16;30). But in process of time the custom of concubinage degenerated, and laws were made to restrain and regulate it (Ex. 21:7-9).
- Christianity has restored the sacred institution of marriage to its original character, and concubinage is ranked with the sins of fornication and adultery (Matt. 19:5-9; 1 Cor. 7:2).
Synonyms of 'concubine'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- better half,
- bondmaid,
- bondman,
- bondslave,
- bondsman,
- bondswoman,
- captive,
- chattel,
- chattel slave,
- churl,
- common-law wife,
- debt slave,
- doxy,
- feme,
- feme covert,
- galley slave,
- goodwife,
- goody,
- helot,
- helpmate,
- helpmeet,
- homager,
- kept mistress,
- kept woman,
- lady,
- liege,
- liege man,
- liege subject,
- married woman,
- matron,
- mistress,
- odalisque,
- old lady,
- old woman,
- paramour,
- peon,
- playmate,
- rib,
- serf,
- servant,
- slave,
- squaw,
- subject,
- theow,
- thrall,
- unofficial wife,
- vassal,
- villein,
- wedded wife,
- wife,
- woman