bigamy
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)
- the state of having two spouses at the same timeType of marriage, matrimony
- the offense of marrying someone while you have a living spouse from whom no valid divorce has occurredType of statutory offense, statutory offence
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: OE. bigamie, fr. L. bigamus twice married; bis twice + Gr. … marriage; prob. akin to Skt. jāmis related, and L. gemini twins, the root meaning to bind, join: cf. F. bigamie. Cf. Digamy.
Law The offense of marrying one person when already legally married to another. Francis Wharton
☞ It is not strictly correct to call this offense bigamy: it more properly denominated polygamy, i. e., having a plurality of wives or husbands at once, and in several statutes in the United States the offense is classed under the head of polygamy. In the canon law bigamy was the marrying of two virgins successively, or one after the death of the other, or once marrying a widow. This disqualified a man for orders, and for holding ecclesiastical offices. Shakespeare uses the word in the latter sense. Blackstone, Sir William Bouvier, John
Base declension and loathed bigamy.— William Shakespeare
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54