What does alimony mean?
Alimony is a legal term for the financial support that one spouse is ordered by a court to pay to the other following a divorce or legal separation. Its purpose is to help a lower-earning or financially dependent spouse maintain a reasonable standard of living after a marriage ends. The amount and duration are typically determined during divorce proceedings, taking into account factors such as length of marriage, income disparity, and each party's earning capacity. Alimony is chiefly used in American English; British and Commonwealth legal systems generally refer to the same concept as spousal maintenance. It carries connotations of legal formality and, in popular culture, sometimes of acrimonious divorce proceedings. Derived from the Latin word for nourishment, the term reflects its original sense of sustaining someone who cannot sustain themselves.
nounA court-ordered payment that one former spouse makes to the other after a divorce or legal separation to provide ongoing financial support.
- A regular payment made by one divorced or separated spouse to the other as court-ordered financial maintenance.
"After fifteen years of marriage, she was awarded monthly alimony while she completed her nursing degree."
"The court reduced his alimony obligation after his ex-wife found full-time employment."
"Under the new law, long-term alimony awards are increasingly rare and typically time-limited."
Rarely used; alimony is normally an uncountable noun. The plural appears mainly in older legal documents or when referring to multiple distinct awards.
"The settlement consolidated several alimonies awarded under different judgments."
'Alimony' literally means 'nourishment' — the same Latin root that gives us 'alimentary', as in the food you eat, became the money one ex-spouse must feed to another.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of alimony
Alimony derives from the Latin 'alimonia', meaning nourishment or sustenance, which itself comes from 'alere', to nourish or feed. The word entered English via Old French in the medieval period, initially carrying broader senses of sustenance and livelihood before narrowing to its modern legal meaning. It shares its root with words such as 'alimentary' and 'alimentation', which retain the original sense of nutrition and feeding.
How alimony is actually used
Alimony is a formal legal term used primarily in American English; British and many Commonwealth jurisdictions use 'maintenance' or 'spousal maintenance' instead. It is treated as an uncountable noun in most contexts, though 'alimonies' occasionally appears in older or pluralistic legal texts.
Easily confused with alimony
Child support is paid for the care of children after separation, whereas alimony is paid to support a former spouse.
Palimony is an informal term for support payments between unmarried partners who cohabited, whereas alimony applies specifically to legally married spouses.