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/ədˈəltəri/ Listen

noun

Adultery n. (pl. adulteries)

The unfaithfulness of a married person to the marriage bed; sexual intercourse by a married man with another than his wife, or voluntary sexual intercourse by a married woman with another than her husband. Note: It is adultery on the part of the married wrongdoer. The word has also been used to characterize the act of an unmarried participator, the other being married. In the United States the definition varies with the local statutes. Unlawful intercourse between two married persons is sometimes called double adultery; between a married and an unmarried person, single adultery.

Adulteration; corruption. (Obs.)

(Script.)

(a)

Lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act, as forbidden by the seventh commandment.

(b)

Faithlessness in religion.

(Old Law) The fine and penalty imposed for the offense of adultery.

(Eccl.) The intrusion of a person into a bishopric during the life of the bishop.

Injury; degradation; ruin. (Obs.) "You might wrest the caduceus out of my hand to the adultery and spoil of nature."

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Etymology of 'Adultery'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Adultery" Quotes from Famous Books

... to her love, so no other man has any right to her absolute confidence. As she becomes an adulteress the day that she gives her body to another man, is she any the less an adulteress, the day that she gives her confidence and trusts her soul to a stranger? The adultery of the heart and soul is not less criminal than the adultery of the body; and every time the wife goes to the feet of the priest to confess, does she not become ...

— The Priest, The Woman And The Confessional • Father Chiniquy

... said Courtier, "but that attitude of mind—you used to have it yourself—which decrees either living death, or spiritual adultery to women, makes my blood boil. You can't deny that those were the alternatives, and I say you had the right fundamentally to protest against them, not only in words but deeds. You did protest, I know; but this present ...

— Forsyte Saga • John Galsworthy

... receive through our own merit." In their moral code appear these maxims: "Keep peace with all; bear injuries with humility; God who sees, will avenge you." "He who looks too curiously on a woman, commits adultery with his eyes."(141) ...

— The God-Idea of the Ancients - or Sex in Religion • Eliza Burt Gamble

... marriage should be effected between her and Filippo. By this union Filippo became powerful, and reacquired Milan and the whole of Lombardy. By way of being grateful for these numerous favors, as princes commonly are, he accused Beatrice of adultery and caused her to be put to death. Finding himself now possessed of greater power, he began to think of warring with Tuscany and of prosecuting the designs ...

— History Of Florence And Of The Affairs Of Italy - From The Earliest Times To The Death Of Lorenzo The Magnificent • Niccolo Machiavelli

... was a young priest, Giuseppe Caponsacchi, who was a canon at Arezzo. Guido followed them, caught them at Castelnuovo, a village on the outskirts of Rome, and caused both to be arrested. They were confined in the "New Prisons" at Rome, and tried for adultery. The result was a compromise—they were pronounced guilty, but a merely nominal punishment ("the jocular piece of punishment," as the young priest called it) was inflicted on each. Pompilia was relegated for a ...

— Browning's Heroines • Ethel Colburn Mayne

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