concubinage
/kɒnˈkjuːbɪnɪdʒ
/noun [mass noun] chiefly historical
The practice of keeping a concubine, or the state of being a concubine: what is the daughter of an infidel good for besides concubinage?...
- Satlow then discusses levirate marriage, polygyny and concubinage.
- The charge of concubinage was just as distasteful to Hawks as the perpetration of individual assaults because the suggestion of lewd conduct on the part of soldiers cast doubt on black women's morality.
- From one-quarter to one-fifth were family- and sex-related offenses, including adultery, incest, concubinage, and rape.
Origin
Late Middle English: from French, from Old French concubine (see concubine).