univira

Latin

Etymology

From ūnus (one) +‎ vir (man).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /uˈni.u̯i.ra/, [ʊˈniu̯ɪrä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /uˈni.vi.ra/, [uˈniːvirä]

Noun

univira f (genitive univirae); first declension

1. (Late Latin) Woman that has only had one husband

   Antonym: multivira

   In nuptiis Romanis, pronubam esse univiram oportuit.

   In Roman weddings, it was proper for the pronuba to be a woman who had only had one husband.

   • Minucius Felix, Octavius 22:

     alia sacra coronat univira, alia multivira, et magna religione conquiritur quae plura possit adulteria numerare.

     Some sacred places are crowned by a woman married once, others by a woman married many times, and those who are able to count more adulteries are sought after with religious zeal.

   • Tertullian, De Exhortatione Castitatis Liber 8:

     Denique monogamia apud ethnicos ita in summo honore est, ut et virginibus legitime nubentibus univira pronuba adhibeatur

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	univira	univirae
genitive	univirae	univirārum
dative	univirae	univirīs
accusative	univiram	univirās
ablative	univirā	univirīs
vocative	univira	univirae

References

• “univira”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press