noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru'
serving as a concubine
Archaic term referring to a woman entering service as a concubine, typically in a historical or pre-modern context. The suru-verb form 妾奉公する is possible but extremely rare.
江戸時代には、貧しい家の娘が妾奉公に出されることもあった。
In the Edo period, daughters from poor families were sometimes sent out to serve as concubines.
Historical kanji spelling; the word itself is archaic and rarely encountered in modern texts.
Mixed kana-kanji spelling; also historical and rare.
Compound of 妾 (めかけ, 'concubine') and 奉公 (ほうこう, 'service'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is firmly associated with pre-modern Japanese social practices.