adultery
noun/əˈdʌltəɹi/
Etymology With change of suffix, from the Old French adultere (“violation of conjugal faith”) (in Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, 12c.), a learnèd borrowing from Latin adulterium, from adulterō. Replaced the older form avoutrie, from the inherited Old French forms avouterie or aoulterie, while keeping its suffix. Compare French adultère (“adultery”). Displaced Old English ǣwbryċe. Not related to adult.
7 senses
- 1Sexual intercourse by a married person with someone…
- 2Lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act, as…
- 3Faithlessness in religion.
- 4The fine and penalty formerly imposed for the offence of…
- 5The intrusion of a person into a bishopric during the…
- 6Adulteration; corruption.
- 7Injury; degradation; ruin.
Sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than their spouse. See more synonyms at Thesaurus:cuckoldry
- She engaged in adultery because her spouse has a low libido, while hers is very high.
- So also that copulation which in one City is Matrimony, in another will be judged Adultery.1651, Thomas Hobbes, De Cive:
2 more examples
- Under modern statutory law, some courts hold that the unmarried participant isn't guilty of adultery (that only the married participant is)2009, Garner's Modern American Usage, page 22:
- Ironically, the detergent industry-sponsored "soap operas" that are central to modern afternoon television programming promise (mostly) female viewers both relief from drudgery and escape into the dramatic, crisis-filled on-air world of (laundryless) marriages, adulteries, and other relationships.2011, Elizabeth Abbott, A History of Marriage:
Biblical, Lifestyle, Religion Broadly Lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act, as forbidden by the sixth/seventh commandment; sinful sexual behavior as a category.
- Thou shalt not commit adultery.
- And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 3:9:
Obsolete The fine and penalty formerly imposed for the offence of adultery.
Ecclesiastical, Lifestyle, Religion The intrusion of a person into a bishopric during the life of the bishop.
Adulteration; corruption.
Political economy
Obsolete Injury; degradation; ruin.
- […] you might wrest the Caduceus out of my hand, to the adultery and spoil of Nature […]1616, Ben Jonson, “Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists”, in Thomas Hodgkin, editor, The Works of Ben Jonson, published 1692, page 378:
- Synonyms
- advowtry
- Derived terms
- adulterize, antiadultery, commit adultery
- Related terms
- adulter, adulterant, adulterate, adulteration, adulterator, adulterer, adulteress, adulterine, adulterise, adulterous, criminal conversation