kế thiếp

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A succeeding principal wife; a wife who is married after the death of the first wife and assumes her status and rights. This term refers specifically to a woman who becomes the primary wife following the death of the first wife (the "vợ cả" or principal wife) in a traditional, often historical, context of polygamy. She is not a concubine ("vợ lẽ") but holds the primary wifely position.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Sau khi người vợ cả qua đời, bà được cưới về làm kế thiếp. (After the principal wife passed away, she was married to become the succeeding principal wife.)
  • Trong gia đình phong kiến, kế thiếp có địa vị cao hơn các thứ thiếp. (In feudal families, the succeeding principal wife had a higher status than the concubines.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is largely historical and literary, reflecting past social structures. It is rarely used in contemporary daily life but may appear in historical texts, dramas, or novels.
• It explicitly denotes a succession of position, not merely a second marriage. The key condition is the death of the first principal wife.

Variants and Related Words

• Vợ cả (n): principal wife (the first and primary wife).
• Vợ lẽ / thứ thiếp (n): concubine; a secondary wife with lower status.
• Kế thất (n): A more formal, literary synonym for "kế thiếp," also meaning a succeeding principal wife.

Synonyms

• Succeeding wife (in a specific traditional context).
• Subsequent principal wife.

Notes on Meaning

• The concept and term are deeply tied to historical practices of polygamy and Confucian family hierarchies in Vietnam. It carries specific cultural and legal connotations that differ from modern Western concepts of remarriage after being widowed.