concubine

Meaning

Noun

• 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) + feminine suffix -īna.