bigamy
/ˈbɪɡəmi
/noun [mass noun]
The offence of marrying someone while already married to another person.During his days in court, the criminal past of the self-confessed liar and philanderer emerged, with offences of bigamy, theft, fraud and criminal damage, and a faked suicide among two changes of identity....
- Well, for instance, bigamy is a federal offence, and I have little doubt that the Commonwealth could prohibit people calling themselves married.
- For instance, is a marriage subsequent to a civil union bigamy?
Derivatives
bigamist
/ noun ...- But Margaret's husband had been a bigamist: did that disqualify her great-granddaughter?
- Apparently the first wives of bigamists did not always care to chase down their absconding husbands.
- Covered by a trail of new names, false claims, and new marital arrangements, deserters and bigamists often lurked just beyond the reach of the law.
bigamous
/ adjective ...- Rather, it only contains the usual bans on bigamous or incestuous marriage.
- His entering into a second marriage without dissolving his first is a bigamous act under Australian law, a matter he was well aware of.
- Most prosecutions for bigamy fail because the complainant does not have the proof of the bigamous marriage.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French bigamie, from bigame 'bigamous', from late Latin bigamus, from bi- 'twice' + Greek -gamos 'married'.