sororate marriage

noun

A marriage in which a husband engages in marriage or sexual relations with the sister of his wife, usually after the death of his wife, or once his wife has proven infertile.

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Meanings

nounsororate marriage (plural sororate marriages)

plural sororate marriages

  1. A marriage in which a husband engages in marriage or sexual relations with the sister of his wife, usually after the death of his wife, or once his wife has proven infertile.

    Sororate marriage is prevalent among the Hill Kharias, only after the death of the first wife and that also depends on the consent of the father-in-law and the prospective second wife.

    1980, Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi, Vijay S. Upadhyay, The Kharia, Then and Now: A Comparative Study of Hill, Dhelki, and Dudh Kharia of the Central-eastern Region of India, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, page 138
Cite this entry
APA

sororate marriage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sororate%20marriage

MLA

“sororate marriage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sororate%20marriage. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sororate marriage,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sororate%20marriage.

Source: sororate marriage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.