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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Bigamy


BIG'AMY, noun [Latin bis, twice]

The crime of having two wives at once. But the term is ordinarily used as synonymous with Polygamy, and may be more justly defined, the crime of having a plurality of wives.

In the canon law, bigamy was the marrying a second wife after the death of the first, or once marrying a widow. This disqualified a man for orders, and holding ecclesiastical offices.