Meanings
plural concubines
- A woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife.
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.
c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]Synonyms: cohabitor, cohabitant, domestic partner
- historicalA slave-girl or woman, kept for instance in a harem, who is held for sexual service.
He ſhall be made a chaſte and luſtleſſe Eunuch, And in my Sarell tend my Concubines:
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii2 more examples
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.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 20:4–6Solomon, who was one of the Deity's favorities, had a copulation cabinet composed of seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.
c. 1909, Mark Twain, “Letter VIII”, in Letters from the EarthSynonyms: odalisque
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA sexual partner, especially a woman, to whom one is not or cannot be married.
nounA woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife.
nounA slave-girl or woman, kept for instance in a harem, who is held for sexual service.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna woman who cohabits with an important man
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinconcubīna
- Anglo-Normanconcubine
- Middle Englishconcubine
- Englishconcubine
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.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek παλλακίς, παλλακή
- παλλακίς (pallakís)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- παλλακή (pallakḗ)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Arabic سُرِّيَة
- سُرِّيَة (surriya)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Basque ohaide
- ohaidea woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Bulgarian нало́жница
- нало́жница (nalóžnica)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Catalan concubina
- concubinaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Chinese Mandarin 妾, 姨太太
- 妾 (qiè)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- 姨太太 (yítàitài)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- 妃 (fēi)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- 側室 /侧室 (cèshì)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Czech konkubína
- konkubínaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Danish konkubine
- konkubinea woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Esperanto kromvirino
- kromvirinoa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Finnish jalkavaimo
- jalkavaimoa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
French concubine
- concubinea woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
German Konkubine
- Konkubinea woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Greek παλλακίδα
- παλλακίδα (pallakída)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Hebrew פִּילֶגֶשׁ
- פִּילֶגֶשׁ (pilégeš)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Hindi रखैल, उपपत्नी
- रखैल (rakhail)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- उपपत्नी (uppatnī)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Hungarian ágyas
- ágyasa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Indonesian selir
- selira woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Irish bean luí, bean leapa
- bean luía woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- bean leapaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Japanese 妾, めかけ
- 妾a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- めかけ (mekake)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- 側室 (sokushitsu)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Korean 첩
- 첩 (cheop)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Latin paelex, concubīna
- paelexa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- concubīnaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- amāsiaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- amīcaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- coniūnxa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- pallacaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Norwegian Bokmål konkubine
- konkubinea woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Polish konkubentka, konkubina
- konkubentkaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- konkubinaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- nieślubnaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Portuguese concubina, amásia
- concubinaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- amásiaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- barregãa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Russian нало́жница, содержа́нка
- нало́жница (nalóžnica)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- содержа́нка (soderžánka)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Slovak konkubína
- konkubínaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Spanish concubina
- concubinaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Swahili suria
- suriaa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Swedish konkubin
- konkubina woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Tagalog kalaguyo, kabit
- kalaguyoa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- kabita woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Thai (พระ~)สนม
- (พระ~)สนม (sà-nǒm)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Ukrainian нало́жниця
- нало́жниця (nalóžnycja)a woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Vietnamese vợ lẻ, nàng hầu
- vợ lẻa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- nàng hầua woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Welsh gordderch, gordderchwraig
- gorddercha woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- gordderchwraiga woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
- cywelyesa woman who lives with a man, but who is not a wife
Cite this entry
concubine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/concubine
“concubine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/concubine. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “concubine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/concubine.
Source: concubine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.