\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.

      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.