morganatic

American

[mawr-guh-nat-ik] / ˌmɔr gəˈnæt ɪk /

adjective

of or relating to a form of marriage in which a person of high rank, as a member of the nobility, marries someone of lower station with the stipulation that neither the low-ranking spouse nor their children, if any, will have any claim to the titles or entailed property of the high-ranking partner.

morganatic British

/ ˌmɔːɡəˈnætɪk /

adjective

of or designating a marriage between a person of high rank and a person of low rank, by which the latter is not elevated to the higher rank and any issue have no rights to the succession of the higher party's titles, property, etc

"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

Other Word Forms

morganatically adverb

Etymology

Origin of morganatic

1720–30; < New Latin morganāticus (adj.), for Medieval Latin phrase ( mātrimōnium ) ad morganāticam (marriage) to the extent of morning-gift ( morganātica representing Germanic *morgangeba (feminine); compare Old English morgengiefu gift from husband to wife on day after wedding)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Edward proposed to the idea of a morganatic marriage in which Simpson would not become queen consort and their potential children would be barred from inheriting the throne following his death but was ultimately unsuccessful.

From Fox News • May 16, 2020

The King proposed a morganatic marriage - in which he would be King but she not the Queen - but it was rejected by the prime minister and other Commonwealth governments.

From BBC • Nov. 27, 2017

When her story ends, she has apparently lost her freedom but attained respectability by a morganatic marriage to a Middle-European prince.

From Time Magazine Archive

On a bright sunny Sunday morning, June 28, 1914, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, accompanied by his morganatic wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, drove down the streets of Sarajevo.

From Time Magazine Archive

But if it should be your Majesty’s pleasure to take a morganatic wife——” “Cut that!” rapped in Cleek’s voice like the snap of a whiplash.

From Cleek of Scotland Yard Detective Stories by Hanshew, Thomas W.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023