Contents
- 1 English
- 1.1 Etymology
- 1.2 Pronunciation
- 1.3 Noun
- 1.3.1 Synonyms
- 1.3.2 Derived terms
- 1.3.3 Related terms
- 1.3.4 Translations
- 1.4 Further reading
English
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Etymology
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From the Old French scholarly form adultere (“violation of conjugal faith”) (in Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, 12c.), from Latin adulterium, from adulterō. Replaced the older form avoutrie, from the popular Old French forms avouterie or aoulterie. Compare French adultère (“adultery”). Displaced Old English ǣwbryċe. Not related to adult.
Pronunciation
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Noun
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adultery (countable and uncountable, plural adulteries)
- (strictly) 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.
1651, Thomas Hobbes, De Cive:
So also that copulation which in one City is Matrimony, in another will be judged Adultery.
2009, Garner's Modern American Usage[1], page 22:
Under modern statutory law, some courts hold that the unmarried participant isn't guilty of adultery (that only the married participant is)
2011, Elizabeth Abbott, A History of Marriage:
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.
- (biblical, 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.
- (biblical) Faithlessness in religion.
1611, The Holy Bible,[…] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker,[…], →OCLC, Jeremiah 3:9:
And it came to pass through the lightness of her whor*dom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
- (obsolete) The fine and penalty formerly imposed for the offence of adultery.
- (ecclesiastical) The intrusion of a person into a bishopric during the life of the bishop.
- (political economy) Adulteration; corruption.
- (obsolete) Injury; degradation; ruin.
1616, Ben Jonson, “Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists”, in edited by Thomas Hodgkin, The Works of Ben Jonson, published 1692, page 378:
[…] you might wrest the Caduceus out of my hand, to the adultery and spoil of Nature […]
Synonyms
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- advowtry (obsolete)
Derived terms
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Related terms
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Translations
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sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than their spouse
- Afrikaans: egbreek, overspel(af)
- Arabic: خِيانة زَوْجِيَّةf (ḵiyāna(t) zawjiyya), (in Islamic law also) زِنَا المُحْصَنَيْن (zinā l-muḥṣanayn)
- Armenian: դավաճանություն(hy) (davačanutʻyun)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܓܲܝܵܪܘܼܬܵܐf (gāyaruta), ܙܵܢܝܘܼܬܵܐf (zanyuta)
- Asturian: adulterium
- Belarusian: пралюбадзе́йстваn (praljubadzjéjstva), пералю́бm (pjeraljúb), адзюльтэ́рm (adzjulʹtér) (stilted, literary), шлю́бная здра́даf (šljúbnaja zdráda), шлю́бная няве́рнасцьf (šljúbnaja njavjérnascʹ)
- Bulgarian: прелюбодея́ние(bg)n (preljubodejánie)
- Catalan: adulteri(ca)m
- Cherokee: ᎠᏓᏲᏁᎯ (adayonehi)
- Chinese:
- Czech: cizoložství(cs)n, manželská nevěraf
- Danish: utroskabc
- Dutch: overspel(nl)n, echtbreuk(nl)m or f
- Esperanto: adulto(eo)
- Finnish: aviorikos(fi), huorinteko(fi), huoruus(fi), haureus(fi), uskottomuus(fi)
- French: adultère(fr)m
- Galician: adulterio(gl)m
- Georgian: მრუშობა (mrušoba), ღალატი (ɣalaṭi), სიძვა (siʒva), ადიულტერი (adiulṭeri)
- German: Ehebruch(de)m
- Gothic: 𐌷𐍉𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃m (hōrinassus)
- Greek: μοιχεία(el)f (moicheía)
- Ancient: μοιχείαf (moikheía)
- Haitian Creole: adiltè
- Hebrew: ניאוף \ נֵאוּףm (ne'úf)
- Hungarian: házasságtörés(hu)
- Icelandic: hjúskaparbrot(is)n
- Ido: adultero(io)
- Indonesian: zina(id)
- Irish: adhaltranasm
- Old Irish: adaltrasm
- Italian: adulterio(it)m
- Japanese: 不倫(ja) (ふりん, furin), 姦通(ja) (かんつう, kantsū), 姦淫(ja) (かんいん, kan'in), .婚外性交 (こんがいせいこう, kongai seikō), 密通(ja) (みっつう, mittsū), 私通(ja) (しつう, sh*tsū)
- Korean: 간통(姦通)(ko) (gantong), 불륜(不倫) (bullyun)
- Kurdish:
- Latin: adulteriumn
- Lithuanian: neištikimybėf
- Macedonian: прељубаf (preljuba)
- Malay: zina(ms), mukah
- Maori: moe pūremu, pūremu, tōkohi, toukohi
- Middle Persian: [Book Pahlavi needed] (gʾt' /gād/)
- Norwegian: horn
- Bokmål: utroskapm
- Occitan: adultèri(oc)m
- Old Church Slavonic: съничьствоn (sŭničĭstvo)
- Old English: ǣwbryċem, unrihthǣmedm
- Persian: زنا(fa) (zenâ), پلیدکاری (palidkâri), زنای محصنه (zenâ-ye mohsene), روسپیگری (ruspi-gari)
- Plautdietsch: Ehebruchm
- Polish: cudzołóstwo(pl)n, zdrada małżeńskaf
- Portuguese: adultério(pt)m
- Romagnol: adultérim
- Romanian: adulter(ro)n
- Russian: прелюбодея́ние(ru)n (preljubodejánije), адюльте́р(ru)m (adjulʹtér) (stilted, literary), супру́жеская изме́на(ru)f (suprúžeskaja izména), супру́жеская неве́рностьf (suprúžeskaja nevérnostʹ)
- Scottish Gaelic: adhaltranasm
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: браколомствоn, прељубаf, прељубm
- Roman: brakolomstvo(sh)n, preljuba(sh)f, preljub(sh)m
- Slovak: cudzoložstvon, manželská neveraf
- Slovene: prešuštvon, zakonolomm
- Spanish: adulterio(es)m
- Swahili: zinaa
- Swedish: hor(sv), äktenskapsbrott(sv)n
- Tagalog: pangangalunya; pakikiapid
- Telugu: వ్యభిచారము(te) (vyabhicāramu)
- Turkish: zina(tr)
- Ukrainian: перелю́бствоn (pereljúbstvo), адюльте́р(uk)m (adjulʹtér) (stilted, literary), подру́жня зра́даf (podrúžnja zráda), подру́жня неві́рністьf (podrúžnja nevírnistʹ)
- Uyghur: زىنا (zina)
- Uzbek: zino(uz)
- Vietnamese: ngoại tình(vi)
- Yiddish: נואףm (nief)
lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act, as forbidden by the seventh commandment
faithlessness in religion; as used in Jeremiah 3:9
- Finnish: aviorikos(fi) (1933); uskottomuus(fi) (1992)
Further reading
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- “adultery”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “adultery”, in The Century Dictionary[…], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
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