Word Study
couvade
CIDE DICTIONARY
couvade, n. [F., fr. couver. See Covey.].
A custom, among certain barbarous tribes, that when a woman gives birth to a child her husband takes to his bed, as if ill. [1913 Webster]
"The world-wide custom of the couvade, where at childbirth the husband undergoes medical treatment, in many cases being put to bed for days." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
couvade, n. a custom by which a father appears to undergo labour and childbirth when his child is being born.
Etymology
F f. couver hatch f. L cubare lie down
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