concubine

Cixi, once a concubine of the Xianfeng emperor, assumed power upon his death in 1861.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

Early on in the winsome new documentary about her life and work, Rita Moreno takes gently hilarious aim at Tuptim, the young Burmese concubine she played in the 1956 film of “The King and I.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2021

He must be rejoicing, telling the Emperor Charles that the king’s concubine is living her last hours.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 22, 2020

More than the sentimental figure of the concubine, this final image most memorably expresses the show’s central theme: the too high cost of war.

From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2019

So in this clumsy way, my mother found out that Wu Tsing had taken his fourth concubine, who was actually just an afterthought, a foolish bit of decoration for his new motorcar.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

The nizam’s court, with its sumptuous palaces, its concubines, its rituals and recitations of poetry and music, was the chief inheritor of the archaic grandeur of the moguls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

However, sumptuary laws dictated what women could and could not wear, elite men kept concubines, and the Tang legal system considered women property.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

But Bracton does have a lot to say about monsters, duels, bastardy, concubines, sturgeon “and other royal fish,” the “pillory and the ducking-stool," and "a judgment with infamy.”

From Washington Post ● May 9, 2022

Criminals, slaves and concubines were tattooed, and some ethnic groups tattooed themselves to ward off evil.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2019

When my brother accused Auntie of frightening our mother away, Auntie shouted that our mother had married a man named Wu Tsing who already had a wife, two concubines, and other bad children.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan