couvade

[ koo-vahd; French koo-vad ]

noun

1. a practice among some peoples, as the Basques of Spain, in which a man, immediately preceding the birth of his child, takes to his bed in an enactment of the birth experience and subjects himself to various taboos usually associated with pregnancy.

couvade

/ kuvad; kuːˈvɑːd /

noun

1. anthropol a custom in certain cultures of treating the husband of a woman giving birth as if he were bearing the child

Word History and Origins

Origin of couvade¹

1860–65; < French (now obsolete), literally, a hatching, sitting on eggs, equivalent to couv ( er ) to hatch (< Latin cubāre to lie down) + -ade -ade ¹; covey

Word History and Origins

Origin of couvade¹

C19: from French, from couver to hatch, from Latin cubāre to lie down

Example Sentences

Those kinds of dads do not exist anymore, not at least among the sitcom writers in Hollywood, who are evidently immersed in prenatal co-parenting and Lamaze class couvade.

From New York Times

It is proper here to notice traces of the couvade, not perhaps indicating that the couvade itself was ever practised as a custom, but showing rather how widely spread are the ideas underlying that custom.

From Project Gutenberg

Though other explanations of the couvade have been given, the most plausible theory represents it as a recognition of paternity by the father.

From Project Gutenberg

The couvade in its strict form, with restrictions and observances which are imposed entirely upon the father to the exclusion of the mother, does not seem to be found.

From Project Gutenberg

These allusions always refer to the Béarnais, the dialect whence the word “couvade” is borrowed.

From Project Gutenberg