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morganatic

Etymology and origin of the English word morganatic

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɔːɡəˈnætɪk/ (UK); /mɔɹɡəˈnætɪk/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin morganaticus,[2][3][4] perhaps through French morganatique,[3][5] from the Medieval Latin phrase matrimonium ad morganaticam “marriage of the morning”,[2][3][5][6][4] in which morganatica comes from Old High German *morgangeba “morning gift”,[3][5][4] like Old English morgengifu.[3][5][4] It is related to morning and gift.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a marriage between a man of high rank and a woman of lower station, in which neither she nor her children may claim his rank or property (1727–41).[3][5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The “morning gift” was the gift a husband traditionally gave his wife on the morning after the wedding, and in such a marriage it was her only share in his estate.[3][5][4] Such a marriage was also called a left-handed marriage, because the groom gave the bride his left hand.[5] The word also applies when the wife is of higher rank than the husband.[5][2]

Timeline

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of a marriage between a member of a royal or noble family and a person of lower rank, in which the lower-ranking spouse and any children have no claim to the titles or property of the higher-ranking one.

Word family

  • morganatically
  • morning
  • morn
  • gift

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Morganatic.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/morganatic. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·