- bigamy
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big·a·my /'bi-gə-mē/ n [Medieval Latin bigamia, ultimately from Latin bi- two + Greek gamos marriage]: the crime of marrying someone while still legally married to someone else compare polygamybig·a·mist /-mist/ n
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- bigamy
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noun
unlawful marriage, illegal marriage, multiple illegal marriages, multiple spouses, marrying multiple partners, marrying multiple wives, marrying multiple husbands
Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
- bigamy
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n.Knowingly being married to more than one spouse at once.
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
- bigamy
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the crime of entering what would be – if it were not for a valid and subsisting marriage – a second marriage. A reasonable belief in the death of a spouse even without a court order may exculpate, for then the mens rea would be lacking.
Collins dictionary of law. W. J. Stewart. 2001.
- bigamy
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The condition of having two spouses at the same time. A marriage in which one of the parties is already legally married is bigamous and usually therefore void. In most states, if the bigamy was intentional, it is also a crime.Category: Divorce & Family Law
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
- bigamy
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n.1 The crime of marrying a person while legally married to another. The second marriage is void.2 In some states, the crime of cohabiting with a person of the opposite sex while legally married to another.
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.
- bigamy
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n.the condition of having two wives or two husbands at the same time. A marriage in which one of the parties is already legally married is bigamous, void, and ground for annulment. The one who knowingly enters into a bigamous marriage is guilty of the crime of bigamy, but it is seldom prosecuted unless it is part of a fraudulent scheme to get another's property or some other felony. Occasionally people commit bigamy accidentally, usually in the belief that a prior marriage had been dissolved. The most famous case in the United States was that of Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel Robards. Ms. Robards' husband had applied for a divorce, but it had not been granted (it required legislative approval) at the time of her second marriage. She completed the divorce and then the Jacksons remarried. Jackson was embarrassed for life over his carelessness (he was a lawyer and a judge), which had hurt his wife's reputation. Having several wives at the same time is called polygamy and being married to several husbands is polyandry.
Law dictionary. EdwART. 2013.