Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

concubine

/ˈkɑŋkjəbaɪn/ noun

In Latin: paelex, concubīna, amāsia First recorded: 1250 Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about concubine at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A sexual partner, especially a woman, to whom one is not or cannot be married.
A woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife.
A slave-girl or woman, kept for instance in a harem, who is held for sexual service.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word