Word of the Day

: October 2, 2007

morganatic

adjective mor-guh-NAT-ik

What It Means

: of, relating to, or being a marriage between a member of a royal or noble family and a person of inferior rank in which the rank of the inferior partner remains unchanged and the children of the marriage do not succeed to the titles, fiefs, or entailed property of the parent of higher rank

morganatic in Context

The king's son, the child of a morganatic marriage, will never rule.

Did You Know?

Although the deprivations imposed on the lower-ranking spouse by a morganatic marriage may seem like a royal pain in the neck, the word "morganatic" actually comes from a word for a marriage benefit. The New Latin term "morganatica" means "morning gift" and refers to a gift that a new husband traditionally gave to his bride on the morning after the marriage. So why was the New Latin phrase "matrimonium ad morganaticam," which means literally "marriage with morning gift," the term for a morganatic marriage? Because it was just that -- the wife got the morning gift, but that's all she was entitled to of her husband's possessions.