Meanings
nounlevirate marriage (countable and uncountable, plural levirate marriages)
plural levirate marriages
- countableuncountableA marriage in which a widow marries her late husband's brother in order to maintain the family community.
Levirate marriage protects a levir's sexual property and a dead man's entitlement. The former, however, serves the latter.
2008, Deborah L. Ellens, Women in the Sex Texts of Leviticus and Deuteronomy: A Comparative Conceptual Analysis, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 261
Origin
- Late Latinlēvir“husband's brother”
- Englishlevirate marriage
From levirate + marriage, from Late Latin lēvir (“husband's brother”).
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
levirate marriage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/levirate%20marriage
MLA
“levirate marriage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/levirate%20marriage. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “levirate marriage,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/levirate%20marriage.
Source: levirate marriage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.