- coverture
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cov·er·ture /'kə-vər-ˌchu̇r, -chər/ n [Anglo-French, literally, shelter, covering, from Old French, from covert, past participle of covrir to cover]: the inclusion of a woman in the legal person of her husband upon marriage under common law◇ Because of coverture, married women formerly did not have the legal capacity to hold their own property or contract on their own behalf. These disabilities have been removed for the most part by statute.
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- coverture
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I
noun
condition of a married woman, conjugality, legal status of a married woman, living as man and wife, marriage lines, married state, married tie, matrimony, matronage, matronhood, matronship, nuptial bond, state of a married woman, state of matrimony, union, wedded state, wifedom
II
index
cohabitation (married state), cover (protection), protection, refuge, shelter (protection), shield
Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
- coverture
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n.In common law, the legal state of a married woman, which was generally merged with that of her husband, leaving her without the right to own property or enter contracts on her own.
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
- coverture
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n. Under the common law, the legal condition of a woman, whereby her legal existence was largely submerged into that of her husband so that he had almost unlimited control over her personal and real property and she could not enter into a legally binding contract or exercise any power or right over her own property without her husband's consent. In every state except community property states, statutes have been enacted that have effectively abolished coverture by giving wives almost unlimited control over their personal and real property free of their husbands' authority, claims, or interests.
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.
- coverture
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An archaic term that refers to the legal status of a married woman.
Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.
- coverture
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An archaic term that refers to the legal status of a married woman.
Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.