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Word entry · 8 letters

levirate

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8 lettersPronunciation /ˈlɛvɪɹət/Part of speech nounSorted aeeilrtvStarts with LEnds with E0 clues
1L2E3V4I5R6A7T8E

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Definitions

  1. the biblical institution whereby a man must marry the widow of his childless brother in order to maintain the brother's line

Word origin

From Latin lēvir (“husband's brother, brother-in-law”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dayh₂wḗr (“one's brother-in-law”).

Used in a sentence

  • And it is, he says, impossible not to believe that the Levirate—that is, the practice of marrying a dead brother's widow—is derived from polyandry.
  • 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.
  • The levirate is found in patrilineal societies in which the bride marries into her husband's family while essentially severing her ties with her original family.

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0

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