Take for instance the noun,
同棲組 which roughly means a group living together.
Does 同棲 always have a romantic connotation, or is it possible to use it in a non-romantic sense. For example, to describe a group of friends living together?
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Does 同棲 always have a romantic connotation, or is it possible to use it in a non-romantic sense.
I think it always has a romantic connotation... I've never heard it used in a non-romantic sense.
同棲組 which roughly means a group living together.
I think it's used to refer to "(the kind/group/category of) people who are living with their partner / choose to live with their partner rather than getting married".
For example, to describe a group of friends living together?
I don't think we use 同棲 to describe that...
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While the main contemporary usage is for non-married people with a romantic affiliation to be 'shacking up' together, this is not 100% definitive (see the Wikipedia page).
Other words exist (一緒に住む、同居) to indicate simple cohabitation, so for all intents and purposes, a romantic link would be implied (Weblio page).
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2In modern Japanese 同棲 *almost always* has a romantic connotation, but it is true that 同棲 *was* used like 同居 without romantic implication in the old days. In Aozora Bunko (library of old public-domain literary works), we can find examples like 「母と妹とは自分達夫婦と同棲するのが窮屈で」, 「一船は一家にして、父子同棲するも」 and 「妻子と同棲することには父の頑強な反対があった」. – naruto Aug 12 '18 at 09:44