1844: adultery Jan 2, 2020

Although there are plenty of words with both a legal or scientific and colloquial meanings, in the case of ‘adultery’, the legal meaning very much shaped the common one. Now, the word relates to an extramarital affair, and is illegal in many countries, hence the need for a specific definition. However, all marital notions are religious in origin, and therefore ‘adultery’ has had a far broader sense. Biblically speaking, what is thought of as adultery could relate—generally speaking—to anything forbidden sexually, including premarital intercourse, but also perversion and even lewdness.

Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts