take a concubine
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
to take a concubine
archaicRefers exclusively to a historical practice in traditional Chinese society where a married man took an additional, secondary wife (妾), who had lower social and legal status than the principal wife (妻). This practice is obsolete today.
Zài在
gǔ古
dài代
，
yǒu有
qián钱
rén人
cháng常
cháng常
nà纳
qiè妾
。
In ancient times, wealthy men often took concubines.
Tā他
de的
zēng曾
zǔ祖
fù父
nà纳
guò过
liǎng两
fáng房
qiè妾
。
His great-grandfather took two concubines.
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Nà纳
qiè妾
de的
xí习
sú俗
zǎo早
yǐ已
bèi被
fǎ法
lǜ律
jìn禁
zhǐ止
。
The custom of taking concubines was long ago prohibited by law.