Etymograph

English

concubine

Concubine comes from Latin concumbō ‘to lie with’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewb-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kumbō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*cumbō1‘to lie down, recline’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconcumbō2‘to lie with’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconcubīna3
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400concubine3
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500concubine3‘a concubine’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588concubine3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin concumbo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin concubina
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English concubine
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “He ſhall be made a chaſte and luſtleſſe Eunuch,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewb-Wiktionary, Latin concumboreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kumbōWiktionary, Latin concumboreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*cumbōWiktionary, Latin concumbo‘to lie down, recline’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconcumbōWiktionary, Latin concubina‘to lie with’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconcubīnaWiktionary, English concubine
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400concubineWiktionary, English concubine
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500concubineWiktionary, English concubine‘a concubine’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588concubineWiktionary, English concubine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “He ſhall be made a chaſte and luſtleſſe Eunuch,…”

first attested 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 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb-

hip, cove, incumbent, cubicle, hobble, shoop, succubus, incubus, incubate, cubit, 13 more

through Latin *cumbō ‘to lie down, recline’

succumb, 8 more

Today it means

noun A sexual partner, especially a woman, to whom one is not or cannot be married.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “concubine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin concumbo, Latin concubina. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- / concubine

Shirt and support for this word