levirate

[ lev-er-it, -uh-reyt, lee-ver-it, -vuh-reyt ]

/ ˈlɛv ər ɪt, -əˌreɪt, ˈli vər ɪt, -vəˌreɪt /

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noun

the custom of marriage by a man with his brother's widow, such marriage required in Biblical law if the deceased was childless. Deuteronomy 25:5–10.

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Origin of levirate

First recorded in 1715–25; from Latin lēvir “husband's brother” (akin to Greek dāḗr, Sanskrit devar, Old English tācor ) + -ate³

OTHER WORDS FROM levirate

lev·i·rat·ic

[lev-uh-rat-ik, lee-vuh-], /ˌlɛv əˈræt ɪk, ˌli və-/, lev·i·rat·i·cal, adjective

Words nearby levirate

levier, levigate, Levi-Montalcini, levin, Levine, levirate, Levi's, Lévi-Strauss, levitate, levitation, Levite

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use levirate in a sentence

The Levirate (from "Levir," a brother-in-law, in Sanscrit dvar) is also found operating as a stringent injunction.
Indo-China and Its Primitive People|Henry Baudesson
By a Levirate marriage if a man died without heirs his remaining brother married his widow and raised up heirs to him.
The Christ|John Eleazer Remsburg
There is absolutely no trace of a levirate system by which the nearest male kinsman must marry his deceased brother's widow.
The Manbos of Mindano|John M. Garvan
We are therefore reduced to the levirate as a proof of the former existence of group marriage.
Kinship Organisations and Group Marriage in Australia|Northcote W. Thomas

He regards this rather unfortunately named custom of the levirate as having its root in group marriage.
Kinship Organisations and Group Marriage in Australia|Northcote W. Thomas

British Dictionary definitions for levirate

levirate

/ (ˈlɛvɪrɪt) /

noun

the practice, required by Old Testament law, of marrying the widow of one's brother

Derived forms of levirate

leviratic (ˌlɛvɪˈrætɪk) or leviratical, adjective

Word Origin for levirate

C18: from Latin lēvir a husband's brother

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012