couvade

cou·vade

C0701400 (ko͞o-väd′)n. A practice in certain cultures in which the husband of a woman in labor takes to his bed as though he were bearing the child.

[French, from Old French, from couver, to incubate, hatch, from Latin cubāre, to lie down on.]

couvade

(kuːˈvɑːd; French kuvad) n (Anthropology & Ethnology) anthropol a custom in certain cultures of treating the husband of a woman giving birth as if he were bearing the child[C19: from French, from couver to hatch, from Latin cubāre to lie down]

cou•vade

(kuˈvɑd)

n. a practice among some peoples, as the Basques, in which an expectant father takes to bed in an enactment of the birth and subjects himself to various pregnancy taboos. [1860–65; < French (now obsolete), literally, a hatching, sitting on eggs =couv(er) to hatch (< Latin cubāre to lie down) + -ade -ade¹; compare covey]

Thesaurus

Noun

couvade - a custom among some peoples whereby the husband of a pregnant wife is put to bed at the time of bearing the childcustom, usage, usance - accepted or habitual practice

couvade

enUK

couvade

(ko͞oväd`), imitation by the father of many of the concomitants of childbirth, at the time of his wife's parturition. The father may retire into seclusion as well as observe various taboos and restrictions. One explanation for this custom is that the father and mother of a newborn both have to be cautious and avoid foods and activities that might, through supernatural means, bring harm to themselves or the child. Another explanation contends that the father simulates the wife's activities in order to focus evil spirits on him rather than her. A third reasoning is that the father asserts his paternity by appearing to take part in the delivery. Indigenous South Americans (see Natives, South AmericanNatives, South American,
aboriginal peoples of South America. In the land mass extending from the Isthmus of Panama to Tierra del Fuego, Native American civilizations developed long before the coming of the European.
..... Click the link for more information. ), such as those of the Guianas, the Caribs, the Arawakan Guayapé, and the Northwestern and Central Gê of E Brazil, believe that the child has a stronger supernatural bond with the father than with the mother and use the couvade to reinforce this bond. In extreme forms of couvade, the man may mimic the pain and process of childbirth and expect his wife to wait on him in the following days. The practice has been noted since antiquity, in such widely dispersed places as Africa, China, Japan, India, among native populations of North and South America, and among the Basques of France and Spain.

Couvade

the customs and rituals of childbirth creating the illusion that the father rather than the mother is giving birth to the child. Thus, the father pretends to be ill, adheres to a diet, groans, sometimes dresses in women's clothes, and later accepts congratulations and cares for the infant while the mother returns to work immediately after giving birth. There is evidence that the custom of couvade existed among the ancient Celts, Thracians, Scythians, and many tribes of America, Asia, and Oceania. Most Soviet ethnologists regard the custom as a reflection of the transition from a matrilineal to a patrilineal society, although some interpret it as a sign of the transition from group to paired marriage. Couvade also includes elements of magical aid for the woman in labor and of concern for the child.

REFERENCE

Khazanov, A. M. “Zagadochnaia kuvada.” Sovetskaia etnografiia, 1968, no. 3.

See couvade

couvade

cou·vade

(kū-vahd'), A custom in certain cultures in which a man develops labor pains while his wife is in labor and then submits to the same postpartum purification rites and taboos. [Fr. couver, to hatch]

sympathy pregnancy

A condition in which a man simulates some features of pregnancy (e.g., morning sickness, constipation, diarrhoea, toothaches, mood swings) as a cultural phenomenon by primitive tribes (e.g., the Tchambulis of New Guinea), to symbolically share the suffering of a pregnant women.

cou·vade

(kū-vahd') A primitive custom in certain cultures in which a man develops labor pains while his wife is in labor and then submits to the same postpartum purification rites and taboos. [Fr. couver, to hatch]

couvade

cou·vade

couvade

cou•vade

couvade

couvade

Couvade

REFERENCE

couvade

cou·vade

sympathy pregnancy

cou·vade

couvade

Words related to couvade

noun a custom among some peoples whereby the husband of a pregnant wife is put to bed at the time of bearing the child

Related Words