morganatic

American  

[mawr-guh-nat-ik] / ˌmɔr gəˈnæt ɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to a form of marriage in which a person of high rank, as a member of the nobility, marries someone of lower station with the stipulation that neither the low-ranking spouse nor their children, if any, will have any claim to the titles or entailed property of the high-ranking partner.

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morganatic British  

/ ˌmɔːɡəˈnætɪk /

adjective

1. of or designating a marriage between a person of high rank and a person of low rank, by which the latter is not elevated to the higher rank and any issue have no rights to the succession of the higher party's titles, property, etc

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Other Word Forms

• morganatically adverb

Etymology

Origin of morganatic

1720–30; < New Latin morganāticus (adj.), for Medieval Latin phrase ( mātrimōnium ) ad morganāticam (marriage) to the extent of morning-gift ( morganātica representing Germanic *morgangeba (feminine); compare Old English morgengiefu gift from husband to wife on day after wedding)