Couvade

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Couvade \Cou`vade"\ (k[=oo]`v[.a]d"), 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.    --Tylor.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

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