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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A practice in certain cultures in which the husband of a woman in labor takes to his bed as though he were bearing the child.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A custom, reported in ancient as well as modern times among some of the primitive races in all parts of the world, in accordance with which, after the birth of a child, the father takes to bed, and receives the delicacies and careful attention usually given among civilized people to the mother. The custom was observed, according to Diodorus, among the Corsicans; and Strabo notices it among the Spanish Basques, by whom, as well as by the Gascons, it is said still to be practised. Travelers, from Marco Polo downward, have reported a somewhat similar custom among the Siamese, the Dyaks of Borneo, the negroes, the aboriginal tribes of North and South America, etc.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A practice among some peoples, such as the Basques, of the husband of a woman in the last stages of pregnancy taking to bed, avoiding certain foods, or imitating other behaviours of a pregnant woman.
  2. n. sympathetic pregnancy: the involuntary sympathetic experience of the husband of symptoms of his wife's pregnancy, such as weight gain or morning sickness.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A custom, among certain barbarous tribes, that when a woman gives birth to a child her husband takes to his bed, as if ill.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a custom among some peoples whereby the husband of a pregnant wife is put to bed at the time of bearing the child

Etymologies

  1. From French couvade ("brooding") (Wiktionary)
  2. French, from Old French, from couver, to incubate, hatch, from Latin cubāre, to lie down on. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. usage
  1. usance
  1. custom

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  • jennarenn The least he could do is throw her an eskimo pi on his way to bed. Mar 4, 2007

  • abraxaszugzwang Hey, a woman's got to learn life ain't all ice cream and midwives. Mar 4, 2007

  • chained_bear What the...?! Mar 4, 2007

  • trivet Brittanica: "(from French couver, “to hatch�?), the custom of the father going to bed at the birth of his child and simulating the symptoms of labour and childbirth. In an extreme form of couvade, the mother returns to her work as soon as possible after giving birth, often the same day, and waits on the father; the roles of the sexes are thus reversed." Feb 25, 2007

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‘couvade’ has been looked up 2010 times, loved by 5 people, added to 20 lists, commented on 4 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.