a⋅dul⋅ter⋅y
[uh-duhl-tuh-ree] 
tə
| voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| a·dul·ter·y (ə-dŭl'tə-rē, -trē) n. pl. a·dul·ter·ies Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse. [Middle English, from Old French adultere, from Latin adulterium, from adulter, adulterer; see adulterate.] |
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Adultery
A*dul"ter*y\, n.; pl. Adulteries. [L. adulterium. See Advoutry.]1. The unfaithfulness of a married person to the marriage bed; sexual intercourse by a married man with another than his wife, or voluntary sexual intercourse by a married woman with another than her husband. Note: It is adultery on the part of the married wrongdoer. The word has also been used to characterize the act of an unmarried participator, the other being married. In the United States the definition varies with the local statutes. Unlawful intercourse between two married persons is sometimes called double adultery; between a married and an unmarried person, single adultery. 2. Adulteration; corruption. [Obs.] --B. Jonson. 3. (Script.) (a) Lewdness or unchastity of thought as well as act, as forbidden by the seventh commandment. (b) Faithlessness in religion. --Jer. iii. 9. 4. (Old Law) The fine and penalty imposed for the offense of adultery. 5. (Eccl.) The intrusion of a person into a bishopric during the life of the bishop. 6. Injury; degradation; ruin. [Obs.] You might wrest the caduceus out of my hand to the adultery and spoil of nature. --B. Jonson.Cite This Source
adultery
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Main Entry: adul·tery
Pronunciation: &-'d&l-t&-rE
Function: noun
: voluntary sexual activity (as sexual intercourse) between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband; also : the crime of adultery —compare FORNICATION —adul·ter·er /&-'d&l-t&-r&r/ noun —adul·ter·ess /-t&-r&s/ noun
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Adultery
conjugal infidelity. An adulterer was a man who had illicit intercourse with a married or a betrothed woman, and such a woman was an adulteress. Intercourse between a married man and an unmarried woman was fornication. Adultery was regarded as a great social wrong, as well as a great sin. The Mosaic law (Num. 5:11-31) prescribed that the suspected wife should be tried by the ordeal of the "water of jealousy." There is, however, no recorded instance of the application of this law. In subsequent times the Rabbis made various regulations with the view of discovering the guilty party, and of bringing about a divorce. It has been inferred from John 8:1-11 that this sin became very common during the age preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. Idolatry, covetousness, and apostasy are spoken of as adultery spiritually (Jer. 3:6, 8, 9; Ezek. 16:32; Hos. 1:2:3; Rev. 2:22). An apostate church is an adulteress (Isa. 1:21; Ezek. 23:4, 7, 37), and the Jews are styled "an adulterous generation" (Matt. 12:39). (Comp. Rev. 12.)
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