bigamy
noun
big·a·my ˈbi-gə-mē 
law : the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another
was accused of bigamy
bigamist
ˈbi-gə-mist
noun 
Example Sentences
He was accused of bigamy.
Recent Examples on the Web Over the years, she was accused of or convicted of theft, fraud, burglary and bigamy, according to police reports. 
Joseph Diaz, ABC News, 2 June 2022 An enterprising publisher reissued an account of the 1706 bigamy trial of Robert Fielding, with prints of the interior view and a key of where famous people had sat. Catherine Ostler, Town & Country, 24 Feb. 2022 The Duchess of Kingston, once the most celebrated maid of honor to Augusta, Princess of Wales, was to stand trial for bigamy. Catherine Ostler, Town & Country, 24 Feb. 2022 And yet the bigamy trial of Elizabeth Chudleigh is what preoccupied aristocrats and politicians, along with a good portion of the British populace, at the time. Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2022 Green was convicted of bigamy in 2001 and, a year later, of raping a 13-year-old girl in the 1980s. Sean P. Means, The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 Dec. 2021 Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were the subject of poems that leaned into racist tropes and allegations of bigamy. CBS News, 1 Nov. 2021 Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were the subject of poems that leaned into racist tropes and allegations of bigamy. CBS News, 1 Nov. 2021 It was called the bigamy bill, and was aimed at polygamists. Matt Didisheim, The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Dec. 2021 See More
Joseph Diaz, ABC News, 2 June 2022 An enterprising publisher reissued an account of the 1706 bigamy trial of Robert Fielding, with prints of the interior view and a key of where famous people had sat. Catherine Ostler, Town & Country, 24 Feb. 2022 The Duchess of Kingston, once the most celebrated maid of honor to Augusta, Princess of Wales, was to stand trial for bigamy. Catherine Ostler, Town & Country, 24 Feb. 2022 And yet the bigamy trial of Elizabeth Chudleigh is what preoccupied aristocrats and politicians, along with a good portion of the British populace, at the time. Washington Post, 18 Feb. 2022 Green was convicted of bigamy in 2001 and, a year later, of raping a 13-year-old girl in the 1980s. Sean P. Means, The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 Dec. 2021 Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were the subject of poems that leaned into racist tropes and allegations of bigamy. CBS News, 1 Nov. 2021 Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were the subject of poems that leaned into racist tropes and allegations of bigamy. CBS News, 1 Nov. 2021 It was called the bigamy bill, and was aimed at polygamists. Matt Didisheim, The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English bigamie, from Medieval Latin bigamia, from Latin bi- + Late Latin -gamia -gamy
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Legal Definition
bigamy
noun
big·a·my ˈbi-gə-mē
: the crime of marrying someone while still legally married to someone else compare polygamy
bigamy
noun
as in polygamy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- polygamy
- polygyny
- polyandry
- marriage
- matrimony
- polyamory
- wedlock
- conjugality
- monogamy
- miscegenation
- remarriage
- intermarriage
- cohabitation
- connubiality
- mixed marriage
- match
- relationship
- civil union
- domestic partnership
- betrothal
- common-law marriage
- commitment
- proposal
- engagement
- attachment
- espousal
- promise
- troth
- pledge
- hand
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- divorce
- separation
- annulment