bigamy
/ˈbɪɡəmi/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.39 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "But now we may find in S. Margarets life, who it is that is Chriſtes wife: whereby we are ſo much wiſer than we were before. But looke in the life of S. Katharine, in the golden legend, and you ſhall find that he was alſo married to S. Katharine, and that our ladie made the marriage, &c. An excellent authoritie for bigamie."
- "A beauty-waining and diſtreſſed widow [Elizabeth Woodville], / Euen in the afternoone of her beſt daies / Made priſe and purchaſe of his [Edward IV's] luſtfull eye, / Seduct the pitch and height of al his thoughts, / To baſe declenſion and loathd bigamie, / By her in his vnlawfull bed he got."
- "Not to take a Wife to her Siſter] Not to take one Wife to another, or not to have at once two Wives. This ſentence condemneth Bigamie, and Polygamie, having two or more Wives together, Lev[iticus] 18. 18. Neither ſhalt thou take a Wife to her Siſter to vex her."
- "It is the Complaint of many that ſecular Judges and others make an Objection of Bigamy againſt Clerks when they are taken and impriſon'd for their Crimes, and demand to be ſent to the Eccleſiaſtical Court; [...] Farther he who marries a Widow, or two Women oftentimes does not contract Bigamy according to them, and they do not eſteem ſome to be Bigamiſts, who really are ſo."
- "This is a peculiar privilege of the clergy, that sentence of death can never be passed upon them for any number of manslaughters, bigamies, simple larcenies, or other clergyable offences; [...]"
- "The missionaries have prepared a sort of penal tariff to facilitate judicial proceedings. [...] The judge being provided with a book, in which all these matters are cunningly arranged, the thing is vastly convenient. For instance: a crime is proved,—say, bigamy; turn to letter B.—and there you have it. Bigamy:—forty days on the Broom Road, and twenty mats for the queen. Read the passage aloud, and sentence is pronounced."
Etymology
From Middle English bigamie (“having two spouses simultaneously, bigamy; second marriage; marrying a widow or widower”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman bigamie and Middle French bigamie (“having two spouses simultaneously; second marriage; marrying a widow or widower”) (modern French bigamie (“bigamy”)), and its etymon Late Latin bigamia (“having two spouses simultaneously; second marriage”), from Late Latin, Latin bigamus (“bigamous”) + -ia (variant of -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns)). Bigamus is derived from bis (“twice, two times”) + Ancient Greek γάμος (gámos, “marriage; matrimony”) (from Proto-Indo-European *ǵem- (“to marry”)). The English word is analysable as bi- + -gamy.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɪɡəmi/
- British English: /ˈbɪɡəmi/