Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and one who is not his or her spouse. Some legal jurisdictions have defined it as a "crime against marriage",[1] opposed to infidelity.
Although the definition of "adultery" differs in nearly every legal system, the common theme is sexual relations outside of marriage, in one form or another.
For example, New York defines an adulterer as a person who "engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse."[2] While in North Carolina adultery is when any man and woman "lewdly and lasciviously associate, bed and cohabit together."[3] Minnesota defines adultery as: "when a married woman has sexual intercourse with a man other than her husband, whether married or not, both are guilty of adultery".[4]
Adultery was known in earlier times by the legalistic term "criminal conversation" (another term, alienation of affection, is used when one spouse deserts the other for a third person). The term originates not from adult, which is from Latin a-dolescere, to grow up, mature, a combination of a, "to", dolere, "work", and the processing combound sc), but from the Latin ad-ulterare (to commit adultery, adulterate/falsify, a combination of ad, "at", and ulter, "above", "beyond", "opposite", meaning "on the other side of the bond of marriage").[5]
A marriage in which both spouses agree that it is acceptable for the husband or wife to have sexual relationships with other people other than their spouse is a form of nonmonogamy. The resulting sexual relationships the husband or wife has with other people, although could be considered to be adultery in some legal jurisdictions, are not treated as such by the spouses.
Close Relationships.
Some cultures have a distinguished interpretation of the term infidelity: in some legal systems, it might be tolerated as long as it does not fit the jurisdiction's legal definition of adultery. On the other hand, infidelity is not only a sexual term, but is the Latin word "unfaithful" (fides: faith). (Having no faith can also mean the religious belief.[6])
Although the definition of "adultery" differs in nearly every legal system, the common theme is sexual relations outside of marriage, in one form or another.
For example, New York defines an adulterer as a person who "engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse."[2] While in North Carolina adultery is when any man and woman "lewdly and lasciviously associate, bed and cohabit together."[3] Minnesota defines adultery as: "when a married woman has sexual intercourse with a man other than her husband, whether married or not, both are guilty of adultery".[4]
Adultery was known in earlier times by the legalistic term "criminal conversation" (another term, alienation of affection, is used when one spouse deserts the other for a third person). The term originates not from adult, which is from Latin a-dolescere, to grow up, mature, a combination of a, "to", dolere, "work", and the processing combound sc), but from the Latin ad-ulterare (to commit adultery, adulterate/falsify, a combination of ad, "at", and ulter, "above", "beyond", "opposite", meaning "on the other side of the bond of marriage").[5]
A marriage in which both spouses agree that it is acceptable for the husband or wife to have sexual relationships with other people other than their spouse is a form of nonmonogamy. The resulting sexual relationships the husband or wife has with other people, although could be considered to be adultery in some legal jurisdictions, are not treated as such by the spouses.
Close Relationships.
Some cultures have a distinguished interpretation of the term infidelity: in some legal systems, it might be tolerated as long as it does not fit the jurisdiction's legal definition of adultery. On the other hand, infidelity is not only a sexual term, but is the Latin word "unfaithful" (fides: faith). (Having no faith can also mean the religious belief.[6])
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