levirate
pronunciation
How to pronounce levirate in British English:
UK ['li:vɪrɪt]
How to pronounce levirate in American English:
US ['livərət]
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- Noun:
- the biblical institution whereby a man must marry the widow of his childless brother in order to maintain the brother's line
Word Origin
- levirate (n.)
- custom by which the male next-of-kin of a dead man was bound to marry his widow, 1725, from Latin levir "brother-in-law" (from PIE *daiwer- "husband's brother") + -ate (2).
Example
- 1. For the israelites polygamy and levirate marriage were the more common solutions to infertility .
- 2. According to levirate marriage , the first child born of a union between a man 's widow and his younger brother would be considered legally a child of the first husband .