Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “bigamy” come from?

Bigamy comes from Middle English bigamie, from Middle French bigamie, a formation based on the prefix bi- meaning "twice" and gamy relating to marriage.

bigamy (English): The state of having two spouses simultaneously;...

Definitions

  1. The state of having two spouses simultaneously;...

Ancestry of “bigamy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbigamiehaving two spouses simultaneously, bigamy; second...
2Anglo-Normanbigamiebigamy
3Late Latinbigamia—
4Latinbigamusbigamous; twice married
5Latinbistwice, two times, on two occasions, in two ways
6Latincolorcolour, shade; color; pigment; complexion
7Ancient Greekμέτρονsomething used to measure: measure, rule, weight;...
8Ancient Greek-τρονForms instrument nouns
9Proto-Hellenic-tronForms instrument nouns from verb stems
10Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
11Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “bigamy”

  • bigamies
  • bigamize
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →