What does bigamist mean?
A bigamist is a person who marries a second spouse while still legally married to a first, committing the offence known as bigamy. Because most legal systems permit only one valid marriage at a time, the bigamist's second union is void or voidable, and the act itself is treated as a serious crime of deception. The word is used chiefly in legal, journalistic, and literary contexts: a convicted bigamist may face fines or imprisonment, while fictional bigamists often serve as figures of scandal and hidden double lives. Unlike a polygamist, whose multiple marriages may be lawful or customary in certain societies, a bigamist specifically has exactly two concurrent spouses, one union being illicit. The term derives ultimately from Greek roots meaning "married twice" and entered English via Latin and Old French. Its connotations are uniformly negative, implying dishonesty, betrayal, and contempt for the law, which makes it a precise and forceful word when describing marital fraud.
nounA person who commits bigamy, that is, someone who marries another person while still legally married to a previous spouse.
- A person who is married to two people at the same time, having entered into a second marriage while the first remains legally valid; one who commits the crime of bigamy.
"The court sentenced the bigamist to probation after discovering he had two wives in different counties."
"Detectives discovered the charming widower was in fact a bigamist with a living wife in another state."
"The novel's protagonist, exposed as a bigamist, loses both family and reputation in a single afternoon."
Regular plural; counts individual offenders, as in legal statistics or historical accounts.
"The parish records exposed several notorious bigamists of the eighteenth century."
In England and Wales, bigamy was historically punishable by up to seven years in prison — and the word itself hides the Greek 'gamos', meaning simply 'marriage'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bigamist
"Bigamist" traces back to Late Latin "bigamus", meaning "twice-married", formed from Latin "bi-" ("twice") and Greek "gamos" ("marriage"). The related noun "bigamy" entered Middle English from Old French "bigamie" around the late medieval period, originally carrying ecclesiastical senses such as remarriage after a spouse's death before acquiring its modern criminal meaning. Cognate formations using the same "-gamist/-gamy" element include "monogamy", "polygamy", and "misogamy".
Related word forms
How bigamist is actually used
"Bigamist" carries strong negative legal and moral connotations, as bigamy is a criminal offence in most jurisdictions. It appears mainly in news reporting, legal contexts, and fiction; it is formal rather than colloquial. The feminine-specific term "bigamistess" is not standard.
Easily confused with bigamist
A bigamist has exactly two spouses at once (the second marriage is illegal), while a polygamist may have more than two spouses, often in contexts where plural marriage is culturally or religiously sanctioned.