Meanings
- not comparableDesignating a marriage (or the wife involved) between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank, often having various legal repercussions (typically that such a wife has no claim on the husband's possessions or title). It was not an aspect of English law, but was common in other royal houses, especially in Germany.
Because of her noble birth, she bitterly resented her position as a morganatic wife.
1941, Rebecca West [pseudonym; Cicily Isabel Fairfield], Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: The Record of a Journey through Yugoslavia in 1937, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1946, →OCLC, page 3805 more examples
Francis Ferdinand's marriage was a morganatic alliance, and in consequence of a declaration which he made when contracting it, his children do not inherit his rights to the Austrian crown.
1914 June 29, “Assassination of the Austrian royal heir and wife”, in The Guardianwe have this day repudiated our former spouse and have bestowed our royal hand upon the princess Selene, the splendour of the night. (The former morganatic spouse of Bloom is hastily removed in the Black Maria.)
1922 February 2, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLCLouis's association with the pious widow, Madame de Maintenon (with whom he contracted a morganatic marriage in 1684) had led to a new tone of piety, even prudery, at court.
2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 19This will not be a morganatic marriage—one where titles are not passed to any children—the prince and Mrs Parker Bowles being beyond the usual age of procreation and so unlikely to have new heirs to complicate matters.
2005 February 11, Stephen Bates, “For the Church of England, marriage comes as a relief”, in The Guardian, →ISSNAfter her death, he arranged a morganatic marriage with Anna in 1757, which made him even more vulnerable to charges of sexual impropriety.
2006, Marsha Keith Schuchard, Why Mrs Blake Cried, Pimlico, published 2007, page 149
Synonyms & antonyms
adjective(of marriages) of a marriage between one of royal or noble birth and one of lower rank; valid but with the understanding that the rank of the inferior remains unchanged and offspring do not succeed to titles or property of the superior
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*murgnagebō“morning gift”
- New Latinmorganāticus
- Englishmorganatic
From New Latin morganāticus, from the Medieval Latin phrase mātrimōnium ad morganāticum, from Proto-Germanic *murgnagebō (“morning gift”) (whence Old English morgenġiefu).
More words from New Latin, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish morganaattinen
- morganaattinendesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
French morganatique
- morganatiquedesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
German morganatisch
- morganatischdesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Italian morganatico
- morganaticodesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Latin morganaticus
- morganaticusdesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Polish morganatyczny
- morganatycznydesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Portuguese morganático
- morganáticodesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Russian морганати́ческий
- морганати́ческий (morganatíčeskij)designating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Spanish morganático
- morganáticodesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Turkish morganatik
- morganatikdesignating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Ukrainian морганати́чний
- морганати́чний (morhanatýčnyj)designating a marriage between a man of higher rank and a woman of lower rank
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
morganatic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morganatic
“morganatic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morganatic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “morganatic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morganatic.
Source: morganatic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.