What does digamist mean?
A digamist is a person who has entered into a second marriage — most commonly after being widowed or divorced. The word derives from Greek roots meaning 'twice' (dis) and 'marriage' (gamos), placing it in the same etymological family as monogamy and polygamy. Though rare in everyday conversation, it appears in legal, ecclesiastical, and historical contexts where precision about marital history matters. It should not be confused with bigamist: a bigamist unlawfully contracts a second marriage while the first still stands, whereas the digamist remarries entirely within the bounds of the law. In older church writings, particularly those of the early Christian era, second marriages sometimes carried a mild stigma, and the term occasionally surfaces in that context. Today it is best regarded as a formal, somewhat antiquarian synonym for 'someone who remarries' — useful for writers seeking an exact, classical term rather than a plain paraphrase.
nounA person who marries for a second time, especially after the death of a spouse or a divorce.
- A person who marries a second time, whether after widowhood or divorce.
"As a digamist, she brought both wisdom and caution to her second wedding vows."
"The Victorian novel treated the widowed digamist with a mixture of sympathy and suspicion."
"Church records from the parish list him as a digamist, having wed his second wife in 1743."
Standard plural; used when speaking of more than one person who has remarried.
"Early Christian writers debated whether digamists could hold clerical office."
While a bigamist commits a crime, a digamist simply says 'I do' twice — legally.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of digamist
Digamist comes ultimately from Greek: dis, meaning 'twice', combined with gamos, meaning 'marriage', yielding digamos ('married twice') and the noun digamia. English adopted the term via Late Latin and ecclesiastical usage, where it described those who had contracted a second union. It shares its root with words such as bigamy, monogamy, and polygamy, all built on gamos.
Related word forms
How digamist is actually used
A rare, learned term drawn from ecclesiastical and historical writing; ordinary English would simply say someone 'remarried'. It carries no negative connotation, unlike 'bigamist', and often appears in discussions of canon law or social history.
Easily confused with digamist
A bigamist illegally enters a second marriage while the first is still legally valid, whereas a digamist lawfully remarries after a marriage has ended through death or divorce.