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.

Concubine has been sometimes, but rarely, used of a male paramour as well as of a female.

Trench.

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.

 

© Webster 1913.

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