Dear Lazythesaurus,

[flwyd]

While writing my I Ching story I had cause to refer to the man in a concubine situation. "His wife" / "Her husband" are perfectly clear. We know the connotations of "His concubine,", but what is the word for the inverse relationship? "Her _____" The best I can come up with in a little thesaurus work is "consort," but that doesn't seem to carry all the meaning. Or is this one of those words that history has had little use for, since the story is rarely told from concubine's point of view?

Comments

[akkhima.livejournal.com]

That's an awesome question.

Since concubines are legally bound to the man in marriage, he might be her husband, even if she is not his wife.

This article: http://www.beijingmadeeasy.com/beijing-history/concubines-of-ancient-china uses that term.

[tequiladawn.livejournal.com]

I would say Keeper or Patron, but those are much more fitting with mistress than concubine. Husband is likely as close as our language gets...and doesn't fit the implied meaning I think you want at all.