noun
bigamy
BIH-guh-mee
noun
1
The crime or state of being married to two people at the same time.
"He was arrested for bigamy after marrying a second wife without divorcing his first."
How to Use Bigamy
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishBeing illegally married to two people at once.
Common mistake
Bigamy specifically means two spouses and is illegal in most countries; polygamy is the broader term for multiple spouses, legal in some cultures.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
bigamies plural
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Etymology
From Late Latin bigamia, formed from Latin bis ("twice") plus Greek gamos ("marriage") — literally "double marriage." The word entered English through Anglo-Norman and Middle French.