What does bigamous mean?
"Bigamous" is an adjective describing a marriage contracted by someone who is already legally married to another person. Because most jurisdictions permit only one spouse at a time, such a union is void or voidable from the outset — legally it is as though the second marriage never existed. The word derives from the Latin "bigamus" (twice-married), built on "bi-" (two) and "-gamy" (marriage), the same root seen in monogamy and polygamy. In modern usage it appears chiefly in formal, legal, or journalistic contexts: courts declare marriages bigamous, newspapers report on bigamous husbands exposed by suspicious spouses, and historians note that bigamous unions were once punished severely. Unlike polygamy, which can involve multiple partners and sometimes carries cultural or religious dimensions, bigamy typically implies deliberate concealment — one partner secretly maintaining two separate marital lives. The word therefore carries connotations of deception and betrayal rather than merely plurality, making it precise vocabulary for discussing overlapping marriages and the legal consequences they incur.
adjectiveRelating to or guilty of bigamy — the crime of marrying someone while already legally married to another person.
- Describing a marriage entered into while one party is already legally married to someone else (hence invalid under law).
- Describing a person who commits or is guilty of bigamy.
"He was arrested after investigators discovered his second marriage was bigamous."
"The court annulled the union after it emerged that the groom's marriage was bigamous."
"She discovered her husband had been leading a bigamous double life for nearly a decade."
A single extra wedding ring can land you in prison: 'bigamous' is what lawyers call a marriage that never legally existed at all.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bigamous
"Bigamous" comes from the Latin "bigamus", meaning "twice-married", formed from "bi-" (two) and the Greek-derived "-gamos" (marriage). The related noun "bigamy" passed into English from Old French and Latin, with the adjective following in the same early modern period. It shares its marital root with cognates such as monogamy, polygamy, and misogamy.
Related word forms
How bigamous is actually used
Formal and legal in register; common in court reporting and family law. The adjective most often modifies 'marriage' or 'relationship', but it can describe the person ('he was found to be bigamous'). It carries strong negative connotations, implying deceit rather than an open plural marriage.
Easily confused with bigamous
Bigamous refers specifically to having two spouses simultaneously, whereas polygamous broadly covers having multiple spouses of any number.
Monogamous means being married to only one person at a time, the direct opposite of a bigamous arrangement.