What does deuterogamist mean?
A deuterogamist is a person who enters into a second marriage, most commonly after the death of a spouse or a divorce. The word derives from the Greek elements 'deuteros' (second) and 'gamos' (marriage), the same root that gives us bigamy, polygamy, and monogamy. Unlike the bigamist, whose second marriage is contracted illegally while the first still stands, the deuterogamist remarries lawfully once the first union has ended. The term belongs to formal register: it appears mainly in sociology, legal history, and studies of marriage customs, and is rarely heard in casual conversation. It carries no built-in disapproval, although historically some cultures viewed remarriage — especially by widows — with suspicion, so the word can surface in discussions of those attitudes. For readers interested in precise vocabulary around marriage and kinship, deuterogamist offers a compact, neutral label for a common life event that English otherwise describes only with longer phrases such as 'a person who has remarried.' Its companion noun, deuterogamy, names the practice itself.
nounA person who enters into a second marriage, especially after the death of or divorce from a first spouse; one who practices deuterogamy.
- A person who marries for a second time, typically after being widowed or divorced.
"A confirmed deuterogamist, she insisted that second marriages often succeed where first ones fail."
"As a deuterogamist twice over, he had learned that every marriage writes its own rules."
"The Victorian diarist recorded her aunt's reputation as an unapologetic deuterogamist in a small village that disapproved of second weddings."
The standard plural simply adds -s; because the word is rare, the plural appears chiefly in demographic or sociological prose.
"Census records from the period show surprisingly many deuterogamists among the town's widowed population."
From ancient Greek roots meaning 'second marriage,' deuterogamist is the formal word for someone who takes a second trip down the aisle — and it's perfectly legal.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of deuterogamist
Deuterogamist combines the Greek 'deuteros,' meaning 'second,' with 'gamos,' meaning 'marriage,' joined to the agent suffix '-ist.' The underlying term deuterogamy entered English scholarly vocabulary in the nineteenth century, when anthropologists and historians needed a neutral label for second marriage as practiced across different societies. It thus belongs to the same Greek-derived family as monogamy, bigamy, and polygamy, all built on 'gamos.'
Related word forms
How deuterogamist is actually used
A rare, formal, and largely academic word, found chiefly in sociological, historical, or legal writing about marriage customs rather than everyday speech. It carries no inherent moral judgment, though it is sometimes encountered in discussions of traditions that frowned upon remarriage. In ordinary conversation, phrases like 'someone who remarries' are far more common.
Easily confused with deuterogamist
A bigamist illegally contracts a second marriage while the first is still legally valid, whereas a deuterogamist lawfully remarries after the first marriage has ended through death or divorce.