adultery

English

Etymology

With change of suffix, from the Old French adultere (“violation of conjugal faith”) (in Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, 12c.), a learnèd borrowing from Latin adulterium, from adulterō. Replaced the older form avoutrie, from the inherited Old French forms avouterie or aoulterie, while keeping its suffix. Compare French adultère (“adultery”). Displaced Old English ǣwbryċe. Not related to adult.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈdʌltəɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

adultery (countable and uncountable, plural adulteries)

1. (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.

2. (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.

3. (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 whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

4. (obsolete) The fine and penalty formerly imposed for the offence of adultery.
5. (ecclesiastical) The intrusion of a person into a bishopric during the life of the bishop.
6. (political economy) Adulteration; corruption.
7. (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

• advowtry (obsolete)

Derived terms

• adulterize
• antiadultery
• commit adultery

 

Related terms

• adulter
• adulterant
• adulterate
• adulteration
• adulterator
• adulterer
• adulteress
• adulterine
• adulterise
• adulterous

 

Translations

sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than their spouse

• Afrikaans: egbreek, overspel (af)
• Arabic: خِيانة زَوْجِيَّة f (ḵiyāna(t) zawjiyya), (in Islamic law also) زِنَا المُحْصَنَيْن (zinā l-muḥṣanayn)
• Armenian: դավաճանություն (hy) (davačanutʻyun)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܓܲܝܵܪܘܼܬܵܐ f (gāyaruta), ܙܵܢܝܘܼܬܵܐ f (zanyuta)
• Asturian: adulteriu m
• Belarusian: пралюбадзе́йства n (praljubadzjéjstva), пералю́б m (pjeraljúb), адзюльтэ́р m (adzjulʹtér) (stilted, literary), шлю́бная здра́да f (šljúbnaja zdráda), шлю́бная няве́рнасць f (šljúbnaja njavjérnascʹ)
• Bulgarian: прелюбодея́ние (bg) n (preljubodejánie)
• Catalan: adulteri (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎠᏓᏲᏁᎯ (adayonehi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 通姦／通奸 (zh) (tōngjiān), 奸情 (zh) (jiānqíng), 姦淫／奸淫 (zh) (jiānyín), 私通 (zh) (sītōng), 外遇 (zh) (wàiyù), 不倫之戀／不伦之恋 (búlún-zhī liàn)

• Czech: cizoložství (cs) n, manželská nevěra f
• Danish: utroskab c
• 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: 𐌷𐍉𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 m (hōrinassus)
• Greek: μοιχεία (el) f (moicheía)

  Ancient: μοιχεία f (moikheía)

• Haitian Creole: adiltè
• Hebrew: ניאוף \ נֵאוּף m (ne'úf)
• Hungarian: házasságtörés (hu)
• Icelandic: hjúskaparbrot (is) n
• Ido: adultero (io)
• Indonesian: zina (id)
• Irish: adhaltranas m

  Old Irish: adaltras m

• 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, shitsū)
• Korean: 간통(姦通) (ko) (gantong), 불륜(不倫) (bullyun)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: zina (ku) f

• Latin: adulterium n
• Lithuanian: neištikimybė f
• Macedonian: прељуба f (preljuba)
• Malay: zina (ms), mukah
• Maori: moe pūremu, pūremu, tōkohi, toukohi
• Middle Persian: [Book Pahlavi needed] (gʾt' /⁠gād⁠/)
• Norwegian: hor n

  Bokmål: utroskap m

• Occitan: adultèri (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic: съничьство n (sŭničĭstvo)
• Old English: ǣwbryċe m, unrihthǣmed m
• Ottoman Turkish: زنا (zinâ)
• Persian: زنا (fa) (zenâ), پلیدکاری (palidkâri), زنای محصنه (zenâ-ye mohsene), روسپی‌گری (ruspi-gari)
• Plautdietsch: Ehebruch m
• Polish: cudzołóstwo (pl) n, zdrada małżeńska f
• Portuguese: adultério (pt) m
• Romagnol: adultéri m
• Romanian: adulter (ro) n
• Russian: прелюбодея́ние (ru) n (preljubodejánije), адюльте́р (ru) m (adjulʹtér) (stilted, literary), супру́жеская изме́на (ru) f (suprúžeskaja izména), супру́жеская неве́рность f (suprúžeskaja nevérnostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: adhaltranas m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: браколомство n, прељуба f, прељуб m

  Roman: brakolomstvo (sh) n, preljuba (sh) f, preljub (sh) m

• Slovak: cudzoložstvo n, manželská nevera f
• Slovene: prešuštvo n, zakonolom m
• Spanish: adulterio (es) m
• Swahili: zinaa
• Swedish: hor (sv), äktenskapsbrott (sv) n
• Tagalog: pangangalunya; pakikiapid
• Telugu: వ్యభిచారము (te) (vyabhicāramu)
• Turkish: zina (tr)
• Ukrainian: перелю́бство n (pereljúbstvo), адюльте́р (uk) m (adjulʹtér) (stilted, literary), подру́жня зра́да f (podrúžnja zráda), подру́жня неві́рність f (podrúžnja nevírnistʹ)
• Uyghur: زىنا (zina)
• Uzbek: zino (uz)
• Vietnamese: ngoại tình (vi)
• Yiddish: נואף m (nief)

lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act, as forbidden by the seventh commandment

• Arabic: زِنىً (ar) m (zinan), زِنَاء m (zināʔ)
• Esperanto: adulto (eo)
• Finnish: huorinteko (fi) (1933); aviorikos (fi) (1992)
• Japanese: 姦淫 (ja) (かんいん, kan'in)
• Ottoman Turkish: زنا (zinâ)
• Romagnol: adultéri m
• Russian: прелюбодея́ние (ru) n (preljubodejánije)

faithlessness in religion; as used in Jeremiah 3:9

• Finnish: aviorikos (fi) (1933); uskottomuus (fi) (1992)

Further reading

• “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.