Meaning of side-wife | Babel Free

Definitions

A woman who (among others) has the potential to become one's wife, or who is fulfilling the role of one's wife in addition to one's actual wife; a concubine

Examples

“If, however, his wife gave him a handmaiden and he had children by her, he was then barred from taking a side-wife (as a concubine was called).”

“She was also a 'sidewife'. Nobody talks about it because she is a rich entrepreneur.”

“A gilly (or sheevin) is a side-wife taken by a man who already has a legal wife.”

“For one who has no husband, as well as for one who acts as a side-wife for a person, who has formed a household, or who lives elsewhere and is not enumerated together [with a husband or children on a population register], […]”

CEFR level