minor wife; secondary wife; wife of inferior rank; concubine, mistress
Many men in Thailand, both rich and poor, have a ‘mia noi’. A ‘mia noi’, roughly translated, means ‘minor wife’ or mistress and has been common in Thai culture for centuries. Even in modern day Thailand, many Thai men will have a mia yai, a major wife (the main wife) and then a mia noi.
From Thai เมียน้อย (miia-nɔ́ɔi).
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