levirate

levirate
Having to do with ones husbands brother.
2. noun
a) A marriage between a widow and her deceased husbands brother or, sometimes, heir.

And it is, he says, impossible not to believe that the Levirate—that is, the practice of marrying a dead brothers widow—is derived from polyandry.

b) The institution of levirate marriage.

It is only a secondary purpose of the levirate that the property of the deceased passes on to the one who is heir to his name, and is probably a later accretion.


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  • Levirate — Lev i*rate (l[e^]v [i^]*r[asl]t), Leviratical Lev i*rat ic*al ( r[a^]t [i^]*kal), a. [L. levir a husband s brother, brother in law; akin to Gr. dah r: cf. F. l[ e]virat leviration.] Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with, a law of the ancient… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • levirate — (n.) custom by which the male next of kin of a dead man was bound to marry his widow, 1725, from L. levir brother in law (from PIE *daiwer husband s brother ) + ATE (Cf. ate) (2) …   Etymology dictionary

  • levirate — [lev′ə rit, lev′ərāt΄; lē′vərit, lē′vərāt΄] n. [L levir, husband s brother, brother in law (< * daiwer < IE * dāiwēr > Sans dēvár, Gr daēr, OE tacor) + ATE2] a custom of the Jews in Biblical times by which a dead man s brother was… …   English World dictionary

  • levirate — leviratic /lev euh rat ik, lee veuh /, leviratical, adj. /lev euhr it, euh rayt , lee veuhr it, veuh rayt /, n. the custom of marriage by a man with his brother s widow, such marriage required in Biblical law if the deceased was childless. Deut.… …   Universalium

  • levirate — [ li:vɪrət, lɛv ] noun (usu. the levirate) a custom of the ancient Hebrews and some other peoples by which a man may be obliged to marry his brother s widow. Origin C18: from L. levir brother in law + ate1 …   English new terms dictionary

  • Levirate marriage — is a type of marriage in which a woman marries one of her husband s brothers after her husband s death, if there were no children, in order to continue the line of the dead husband. The term is a derivative of the Latin word levir , meaning… …   Wikipedia

  • LEVIRATE MARRIAGE AND ḤALIẒAḤ. — Definition Levirate marriage (Heb. יִבּוּם; yibbum) is the marriage between a widow whose husband died without offspring (the yevamah) and the brother of the deceased (the yavam or levir), as prescribed in Deuteronomy 25:5–6: „ If brethren dwell… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Levirate law — An injunction that if a married man died without children, it was the duty of a brother or other near relative to marry the widow, and the son of the union would be reckoned to be the son of the first husband (Deut. 25:5–10). The law did not… …   Dictionary of the Bible

  • levirate and sororate — Customs or laws regulating marriage following the death of a spouse, or in some cases during the lifetime of the spouse. The levirate decrees a dead man s brother to be the widow s preferred marriage partner. In ancient Hebrew society, this… …   Universalium

  • levirate — noun Etymology: Latin levir husband s brother; akin to Old English tācor husband s brother, Greek daēr Date: 1725 the sometimes compulsory marriage of a widow to a brother of her deceased husband • leviratic adjective …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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