Concubine

Noun: a mistress; (in polygamous societies) a woman who lives with a man but has lower status than his wife or wives

For some reason, whenever I hear or think the word concubine, I see a beautiful woman reclining and smiling even though she’s sad. There’s something stirring in the image, about the way concubine sounds much more refined than whore. It also seems much gentler, smoother, as if it were a position of honor, rather than scorn.

Jules
U.S.