noun
mistress; kept woman; concubine
Dated term for a woman financially supported by a man in a long-term extramarital relationship; historically also used for concubines.
彼は妾を囲っているという噂だ。
There's a rumor that he keeps a mistress.
江戸時代には、妾
In the Edo period, having a concubine was not uncommon.
Rarely used kanji form.
The kanji 妾 originally meant a female servant or concubine in Chinese. The reading めかけ is a native Japanese compound, possibly from 目 (me, 'eye') + 掛け (kake, 'to hang' or 'to attach'), but the exact derivation is uncertain.