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adultery

Etymology and origin of the English word adultery

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈdʌltəɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English adulterie (about 1415), a respelling after Latin of earlier avoutrie (about 1300).[2][3][4] Avoutrie is borrowed from Old French avoutrie,[2][3] from avoutre “adulterer”, from Latin adulter (“adulterer”);[2][3][4] the later form is partly borrowed from Latin adulterium.[5][2][4] The Latin words come from adulterāre “to corrupt; to commit adultery”,[2][3][6] from ad “to” and alterāre “to alter”.[3] The word is related to adulterate, not to adult.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Violation of the marriage bed; voluntary sexual intercourse of a married person with someone other than the spouse (c. 1300 in Etymonline; 1366 in the OED).[3][7][2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word could also mean idolatry, perversion or heresy.[3] In Scripture its meaning was extended to unchastity generally (1388),[7] and in translations of the seventh commandment it is understood to forbid lewdness in thought as well as act.[3][1] The obsolete sense “adulteration, corruption” is recorded from 1609.[7] As a crime it was once classed as single adultery, with an unmarried person, or double adultery, with a married person.[3] The Old English word was ǣwbryce, “breach of lawful marriage”, like German Ehebruch.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – avoutrie.[3][2]
  • 1366 – violation of marriage.[7]
  • 1388 – unchastity in general (scriptural).[7]
  • about 1415 – the Latinized form adultrie, adulterie.[2]
  • 1609 – adulteration, corruption (obsolete).[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse.
  2. (religion) Unchastity or faithlessness in general.
  • adulterate
  • adulteration
  • adulterant
  • adulterer
  • adulteress
  • adulterine
  • adulterous
  • alter

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Adultery.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/adultery. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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