Holy Matrimony, not Marriage
by Walter Kenaston
through the grace of IAUE Aleim (the Lord God)

 

Using the definitions from Black's Law Dictionary, Bouviers and Webster's as authoritative, matrimony is seen to have two senses, the first being of a relation, the second being of a status.

The first refers to the "relation" of marriage. By a "celebration of marriage" a man and woman take each other for husband and wife. They are thereby "related", are they not? Such a solemnized marriage is religious and "according to law." It appears such is a ecclesiastical rite which must be publicized, but by something as simple as by being witnessed by third parties (who are competent to testify).

The secondary meaning of matrimony is in the sense of a status, which, by examining the definition of marriage, is a civil status under contract whereby a man and woman agree to live in a "state of union which ought to exist between a husband and wife." This contract to live as if husband and wife is in distinction from the holy matrimony of taking each other for husband and wife. It is sanctioned sexual commerce as contradistinguished (as merely different, rather than distinguished as being separate) from concubinage which is unsanctioned.

A common-law marriage appears simply to be a marriage contracted according to the common law, not being solemnized. Such a marriage is probably seen as contracted concubinage - sexual commerce - by the civil law. As common law does not recognize concubinage, and as "holy matrimony" is ceremonial, I am uncertain how the common law views such a contract.

Here's an image of a 1858 marriage certificate (not a license as the caption says). The certificate reads: "This Certifies That The Rite Of Holy Matrimony Was Celebrated Between". http://www.rootsweb.com/~mscivilw/1858license.htm

See also http://www.mercyseat.net/BROCHURES/marriagelicense.htm for a discussion of marriage licensure. One of the things this article points out is that the federal government established the Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act in 1923, which, by 1929, every state in the Union had adopted into their marriage license laws.

Interestingly, in Louisiana state statutes, there are provisions for a "covenant marriage" as opposed to a "regular" marriage, the covenant marriage being more serious.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 1975, Roman Law, pg 1056-7:

  Family. The chief characteristic of the Roman family is the patria potestas (paternal power in the form of absolute authority), which the elder father exercised over his children and over his more remote descendants in the male line, whatever their age might be, as well as over those brought into the family by adoption--a common practice in Rome. This meant originally not only that he had control over the persons of his children, amounting even to a right to inflict capital punishment, but that he alone had any rights in private law. Thus, any acquisitions made by a child under potestas became the property of the father. The father might indeed allow a child (as he might a slave) certain property to treat as his own, but in the eye of the law it continued to belong to the father.
  By the 1st century AD there were already modifications of the system: the father's power of life and death had shrunk to that of light chastisement, and the son could bind his father by contract with a third party within the same strict limits that applied to slaves and their masters. Sons too could keep as their own what they earned as soldiers and even make wills of it. In Justinian's day, the position as regards property had changed considerably; what the father gave to the son still remained in law the father's property, but the rules concerning the son's own earnings had been extended to many sorts of professional earnings; and in other acquisitions (such as property inherited from the mother), the father's rights were reduced to a life interest (usufruct). At all times, patria potestas ceased normally only with the death of the father; but the father might voluntarily free the child by emancipation, and a daughter ceased to be under her father's potestas if she came under the manus of husband.
  There were two types of marriage known to the law, one with manus and one without, but the manus type was rare already in the late republic and had disappeared long before Justinian's day. Manus was the autocratic power of the husband over the wife, corresponding to patria potestas over his sons.
  Marriage without manus was by far the more common in all properly attested periods. It was formed (provided the parties were above the age of puberty and, if under potestas, had their father's consent) simply by the beginning of conjugal life with the intention of being married, and this was normally evidenced by the bringing of the bride to the bridegroom's house. The wife remained under her father's potestas if he were still alive; if he were dead, she continued (so long as guardianship of women continued) to have the same guardian as before marriage. Both spouses had to be citizens, or if one were not, he or she must have conubium (the right, sometimes given to non-Romans, of contracting a Roman marriage). In marriage without manus, the property of the spouses remained distinct, and even gifts between husband and wife were invalid.
  Divorce was always possible at the instance of the husband in cases of marriage with manus; in marriage without manus, either party was free to put an end to the relationship at will. A formal letter was usual, but any manifestation of intention to end the relationship--an intention made clear to the other party and accompanied by actual parting--was all that was legally necessary. The Christian emperors imposed penalties on those who divorced without good reason, but the power of the parties to end the marriage by their own act was not taken away.
  Concubinage was recognized in the empire as a "marriage" without dowry, with a lower status for the woman, and with provisions that the children were not legally the father's heirs. A man could not have both a wife and a concubine. The emperor Constantine in the 4th century first enacted that the children of such unions might be legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their parents, a rule that the medieval civil law extended to all illegitimate children.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 1975, Roman Catholicism, pg 999:

  Marriage. The inclusion of marriage among the sacraments gives the Roman Catholic Church jurisdiction over an institution that is of concern to the state and to other persons and groups within society. The Roman Church claims over the marriages of its members, even though is is unable to urge this jurisdiction in modern secular states. The sacrament in Roman Catholic teaching is administered by the spouses through the exchange of consent; the priest, whose presence is required, is an authorized official witness; in addition, the church requires two other witnesses. Marriage is safeguarded by a number of impediments that render the marriage null and void whether they are known or not, and the freedom of the spouses must be assured. This means that the Roman Catholic Church demands an unusually rigorous examination before the marriage, and this in turn means that it is practically impossible to marry on impulse in the Catholic Church. All of this is for the purpose of assuring that the marriage so contracted will not be declared null in the future because of some defect.
  The rigid Roman Catholic rejection of divorce has been a major point of hostility in the modern world. Absolute indissolubility is declared only of the marriage of two baptized persons. (Protestants as well as Catholics.) The same indissolubility is not declared of marriages of the unbaptized, but the Roman Church recognizes no religious or civil authority except itself that is empowered to dissolve such marriages; this claim is extremely limited and is not used unless a Roman Catholic is involved. Because of it rigorous conditions for contracting marriage, the Roman Catholic Church finds grounds for nullity that do not exist in civil law, and it is willing to make a more searching examination. Declarations of nullity, however, should not be confused with divorce nor be thought a substitute for divorce. Some Roman theologians have suggested that Roman Catholic rigour is based on a misunderstanding of the Gospel texts that reject divorce; but a position maintained for centuries is not easily modified.
  The onerous conditions that Roman Catholicism formerly imposed upon non-Catholic partners in mixed marriages have been notably relaxed since the second Vatican Council, particularly as regards written promises that the children would receive religious education in the Roman Catholic faith. The former coldness of the Roman Church toward such marriages is also relaxed; they may be celebrated in church during the mass, and a Protestant minister or a Jewish rabbi may share the witness function with the priest.

The married woman is "hidden" by her husband under what is called the disability of coverture, seen as one with her husband. This is rooted in Biblical doctrine and is ackowledged by the common law. Under the modern civil law she is seen a separate person for many purposes.

The doctrine of the Bible and of the common law that the husband and wife are one has been superseded by the introduction of a new principle from the civil law that they are distinct persons, with distinct property, and distinct powers over it.--Wylly v. Collins, 9 Ga. 223 (Ga. 1851). (34 Am. Dig., Husband and Wife, § 2.)

Under Const. 1868, husband and wife are no longer a unit in contemplation of law.--Huff v. Wright, 39 Ga. 41 (Ga. 1869). (34 Am. Dig., Husband and Wife, § 2.)

"A woman who has a living husband would be incapable of contracting a common-law marriage." Greene v. Greene et al., 22 So.2d 792, hn. 1 (S.C.Fla. 1945)

"Our adjudicated cases give to a common law marriage the same dignity and recognition as is accorded to ceremonial marriages and the point of cleavage apparently is the method of expressing consent. At the common law no formal ceremony is essential to a valid marriage and an agreement between parties per verba de praesenti to be husband and wife constitue a valid marriage. A ceremonial marriage is effectuated pursuant to a marriage license and marriage ceremony conducted by a minister or authorized civil officer in the presenc of witnesses. Catlett v. Chestnut, 107 Fla. 498, 146 So. 241, 91 A.L.R. 212; Orr v. State, 129 Fla. 398, 176 So. 510." (Budd et al. v. J. Y. Gooch Co., Inc., et al., 27 So.2d 72, 74 (S.C.Fla. 1946)

MARRIAGE. - Bouvier's

A contract made in due form of law, by which a free man and a free woman reciprocally engage to live with each other during their joint lives, in the union which ought to exist between husband and wife. By the terms freeman and freewoman in this definition are meant, not only that they are free and not slaves, but also that they are clear of all bars to a lawful marriage. Dig. 23, 2, 1; Ayl. Parer. 359; Stair, Inst. tit. 4, s. 1; Shelford on Mar. and Div. c. 1, s. 1.
2. To make a valid marriage, the parties must be willing to contract, Able to contract, and have actually contracted.
3. - 1. They must be willing to contract. Those persons, therefore, who have no legal capacity in point of intellect, to make a contract, cannot legally marry, as idiots, lunatics, and infant; males under the age of fourteen, and females under the age of twelve, and when minors over those ages marry, they must have the consent of their parents or guardians.
4. There is no will when the person is mistaken in the party whom he intended to marry; as, if Peter intending to marry Maria, through error or mistake of person, in fact marries Eliza; but an error in the fortune, as if a man marries a woman whom he believes to be rich, and he finds her to be poor; or in the quality, as if he marry a woman whom he took to be chaste, and whom he finds of an opposite character, this does not invalidate the marriage, because in these cases the error is only of some quality or accident, and not in the person. Poynt. on Marr. and Div. ch. 9.
5. When the marriage is obtained by force or fraud, it is clear that there is no consent; it is, therefore, void ab initio, and may be treated as null by every court in which its validity may incidentally be called in question. 2 Kent, Com. 66; Shelf. on Marr. and Div. 199; 2 Hagg. Cons. R. 246; 5 Paige, 43.
* * *
15. Marriage is a contract intended in its origin to endure till the death of one of the contracting parties. It is dissolved by death or divorce.
* * *

MARRIAGE. - Black's 3rd

Marriage, as distinguished from the agreement to marry and from the act of becoming married, is the civil status of one man and one woman united in law for the discharge to each other and the community of the duties legally incumbent on those whose association is founded on the distinction of sex. (Cites omitted.)
A contract, according to the form prescribed by law, by which a man and woman, capable of entering into such contract, mutually engage with each other to live their whole lives together in the state of union which ought to exist between a husband and wife. Sheif. Mar. & Div. 1.

Marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil contract, to which the consent of parties capable of making it is necessary. Consent alone will not constitute marriage; it must be followed by a solemnization, or by a mutual assumption of marital rights, duties, or obligations. Civil Code Cal. § 55.
Marriage is a union of one man and one woman, "so long as they both shall live," to the exclusion of all others, by an obligation which, during that time, the parties cannot of their own volition and act dissolve, but which can only be dissolved by authority of the state. Roche v. Washington, 19 Ind. 53[?], 81 Am. Dec. 376.

The word also signifies the act, ceremony, or formal proceeding by which persons take each other for husband and wife.

In Old English Law

Marriage is used in the sense of "maritagium" (q. v.) or the feudal right enjoyed by the lord or guardian in chivalry of disposing of his ward in marriage.

[Other subheadings omitted.]

ENGLISH MARRIAGE. - Black's 3rd

This phrase may refer to the place where the marriage is solemnized, or it may refer to the nationality and domicile of the parties between whom it is solemnized, the place where the union so created is to be enjoyed. 6 Prob. Div. 51.

MARITAGIUM. - Bouvier's

Anciently that portion which was given with a daughter in marriage.
2. During the existence of the feudal law, it was the right which the lord of the fee had, under certain tenures, to dispose of the daughters of his vassal in marriage. By this word was also understood marriage. Beames' Glanv. 138, n; Bract. 21 a; Spelm. Gl. ad voc.; 2 Bl. Com. 69; Co. Litt. 21 b, 76 a.

MARITAGIUM. - Black's 3rd

The portion which is given with a daughter in marriage. Also the power which the lord or guardian in chivalry had of disposing of his infant ward in matrimony.

MATRIMONIAL. - Black's 3rd

Of or pertaining to matrimony or the estate of marriage.

MATRIMONIUM. - Bouvier's

By this word is understood the inheritance descending to a man, ex parti matris. It is but little used.
2. Among the Romans this word was employed to signify marriage; and it was so called because this conjunction was made with the design that the wife should become a mother. Inst. 1, 9, 1.

MATRIMONIAL COHABITATION. - Black's 3rd

The living together of a man and woman ostensibly as husband and wife. (Cites omitted) Also the living together of those who are legally husband and wife, the term carrying with it, in this sense, an implication of mutual rights and duties as to sharing the same habitation. (Cites omitted.)

MATRIMONIUM. - Black's 3rd

Lat. In Roman law. A legal marriage, contracted in strict accord with the forms of the older Roman law, i.e., either with the farreum, the coemptio, or by usus. This was allowed only to Roman citizens and to those neighboring peoples to whom the right of connubium had beed conceded. The effect of such marriage was to bring the wife into the manus, or marital power, of the husband, and to create the patria potestas over the children.

Matrimonium subsequens tollit peccatum praecedens. Subsequent marriage cures proceeding criminality.

COEMPTIO. -

MATRIMONY. See Marriage. - Bouvier's

MATRIMONY. - Black's 3rd

Marriage, (q. v.) in the sense of the relation or status, not of the ceremony.

RELATION. - Black's 3rd

A relative or kinsman; a person connected by consanguinity. In re Spier's Estate, 224 Mich. 658, 195 N. W. 430, 431; McMenamy v. Kampelmann, 273 Mo. 450, 200 S. W. 1075, 1077. The words "relatives" and "relations," in their primary sense, are braod enough to include anyone connected by blood or affinity, even to the remotest degree, but where used in wills, as defining and determining legal succession, are construed to include only those persons who are entitled to share in the estate as next of kin under the statute of distributions. In re Sobel's Estate, 117 Misc. 508, 191 N. Y. S. 676, 677; In re Trickett's Estate, 197 Cal. 20, 239 P. 406, 409; Wooten's Trustee v. Hardy, 221 Ky. 338, 298 S. W. 963, 967.
The connection of two persons, or their situation with respect to each other, who are associated, whether by the law, by their own agreement, or by kinship, in some social status or union for the purposes of domestic life; as the relation of guardian and ward, husband and wife, master and servant, parent and child; so in the phrase "domestic relations."
* * *

KIN. - Black's 3rd

Relation or relationship by blood or consanguinity. "The nearness of kin is computed according to the civil law." 2 Kent, Comm. 413. See Keniston v. Mayhew, 169 Mass. 166, 47 N. E. 612; Hibbard v. Odell, 16 Wis. 635; Lusby v. Cobb, 80 Miss. 715, 32 So. 6; State v. Bielman, 86 Wash. 460, 150 P. 1194. As to "next of kin," see Next.
* * *

CONSANGUINITY. - Black's 3rd

Kinship; blood relationship; the connection or relation of persons descended from the same stock or common ancestor. 2 Bl. Comm. 202; Blodget v. Brinsmaid, 9 Vt. 30; State v. De Hart, 109 La. 570, 33 So. 605; Tepper v. Supreme Council, 59 N. J. Eq. 321, 45 Atl. 111; Rector v. Drury, 3 Pin. (Wis.) 298; Sweezey v. Willis, 1 Brad. Surr. R. (N. Y.) 495.

Consanguinity is distinguished from "affinity," which is the connection existing in consequence of a marriage, between each of the marriage persons and the kindred of the other. Tegarden v. Phillips, 14 Ind. App. 27, 42 N. E. 549; Carman v. Newell, 1 Denio (N. Y.) 25; Spear v. Robinson, 29 Me. 545. Adopted in Sizemore v. Commonwealth, 210 Ky. 637, 276 S. W. 524, 525.

* * *

WED. - Black's 3rd

Sax. A covenant or agreement. Cowell. A pledge. Jenks, Hist. E. L. 13.

STATUS. - Black's 3rd

The legal position of the individual in or with regard to the rest of the community. L. R. 4 P. D. 11. The rights, duties, capacities and incapacities which deterine a person to a given class, constitute his status; Campb. Austin 137. Thus, when we say that the status of a woman after a decree nisi for the dissolution of her marriage has been made, but before it has been made absolute, is that of a married woman, we mean that she has the same legal rights, liabilities, and disabilities as an ordinary married woman. The term chiefly applied to persons under disability, or persons who have some peculiar condition which prevents the general law from applying to them in the same way as it does to ordinary persons. (Cites omitted.)
It also means estate, because it signifies the condition or circumstances in which one stands with regard to his property. In the Year Books, it was used in this sense; 2 Poll. & Maitl. Hist. E. L. 11.

There are certain rights and duties, with certain capacities and incapacities to take rights and incur duties, by which persons, as subjects of law, are variously determined to certain classes. The rights, duties, capacities, or incapacities which determine a given person to any of these classes, constitute a condition or status with which the person is invested. Aust. Jur. § 973.

Standing. - Black's 3rd (subheading under STAND.)

One's place in the community in the estimation of others; his relative position and social, commercial, or moral relation; his repute, grade, or rank. Gross v. State, 186 Ind. 581, 117 N. E. 562, 564, 1 A. L. R. 1151.

RITE. - Black's 3rd

Lat. Duly and formally; legally; properly; technically.

CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE. - Black's 3rd

The formal act by which a man and woman take each other for husband and wife, according to law; the solemnization of a marriage. The term is usually applied to a marriage ceremony attended with ecclesiastical functions. See Pearson v. Howey, 11 N. J. Law, 19.

SOLEMN. - Black's 3rd

Formal; in regular form; with all the forms of a proceeding. As to solemn "Form," see Probate. As to solemn "Oath" and "War," see those nouns.

SOLEMNITY. - Black's 3rd

A rite or ceremony; the formality established by law to render a contract, agreement, or other valid act.

SOLELMNIZE. - Black's 3rd

To solemnize, spoken of a marriage, means no more than to enter into a marriage contract, with due publication, before third persons, for the purpose of giving it notoriety and certainty; which may be before any persons, relatives, friends, or strangers, competent to testify to the facts. See dyer v. Brannock, 66 Mo. 410, 27 Am. Rep. 359; Pearson v. Howey, 11 N. J. Law, 19; Bowman v. Bowman, 24 Ill. App. 172.

Solemnize. - Black's 6th

To enter marriage publically before witnesses in contrast to a clandestine or common law message.

Marriage. French mariage: Latin maritare: maritus, a husband. The private relation which includes the reciprocal duties of husband and wife. 1 Bl. Com. 433. An engagement by which a single man and a single woman of sufficient discretion take each other for husband and wife. Milford v. Worcester, 7 Mass. *52 (1810), Parsons, Chief Justice. Marriage is the most important transaction of life; It is the basis of the entire fabric of all civilized society. Randall v. Kreiger, 23 Wall. 147 (1874), Swayne, J. To a valid marriage, consent is all that is necessary. If made per verba de praesenti, by words in the present tense, though not consummated by cohabitation, or per verba de futuro, by words of the future tense, and followed by consummation, it amounts to a valid marriage, in the absence of civil regulations to the contrary. It may be proved by reputation, declarations, conduct and other circumstances usually accompanying the relation - 1 Bl. Com. 439; and by what would be proof where the marriage took place. Patterson v. Gaines, 6 How. 587 (1818).

Marriage license. An official permit to marry.
Mixed marriage. A union between persons of different races; in particular, between a Caucasian and an African. A State may forbid whites and blacks to inter-marry. The XIVth Amendment does not prohibit such legislation. Green v. State, 58 Ala. 192-97 (1877); 59 id. 60.

BANNS OF MATRIMONY. - Black's 3rd

Common-law marriage. - Black's 3rd

One not solemnized in the ordinary way, but created by an agreement to marry, followed by cohabitation; a consummated agreement to marry, between a man and a woman, per verba de praesenti, followed by cohabitation. (Cite omitted.) There must be a public and continued recognition of such relation by the parties as distinguished from occasional or incidental recognition. (Cites omitted.)

Common-law marriage. - Black's 6th

One not solemnized in the ordinary way (i.e. non-ceremonial) but created by an agreement to marry, followed by cohabitation. A consummated agreement to marry, between persons legally capable of making marriage contract, per verba de praesenti, followed by cohabitation. Such marriage requires a positive mutual agreement, permanent and exclusive of all others, to enter into a marriage relationship, cohabitation sufficient to warrant a fulfillment of necessary relationship of man and wife, and an assumption of marital duties and obligations. (Cites omitted.)

Common-law wife. - Black's 3rd

A woman who was party to a "common-law marriage," as above defined; or one who, having lived with a man in a relation of concubinage during his life his life, asserts a claim, after his death, to have been his wife according to the requirements of the common law. In re Brush, 25 App. Div. 610m 49 N. Y. S. 803.

Common-law wife. - Black's 6th

A woman who was party to a common-law marriage; or one who, having lived with a man in a relation of concubinage during his life his life, asserts a claim, after his death, to have been his wife according to the requirements of the common law.

SANCTION. - Black's 3rd

In the original sense of the word, a "sanction" is a penalty or punishment provided as a means of enforcing obedience to a law. In jurisprudence, a law is said to have a sanction when there is a state which will intervene if it is disobeyed or disregarded. Therefore international law has no legal sanction. Sweet.
In a more general sense, a "sanction" has been defined as a conditional evil annexed to a law to produce obedience to that law; and, in a still wider sense, a "sanction" means simply an authorization of anything. Occasionally, "sanction" is used (e. g. in Roman law) to denote a statute, the part (penal clause) being used to denote the whole. Brown.
The vindicatory part of a law, or that part which ordains or denounces a penalty for its violation. 1 Bl. Comm. 56.

CONCUBINAGE. - Bouvier's

This term has two different significations; sometimes it means a species of marriage which took place among the ancients, and which is yet in use in some countries. In this country it means the act or practice of cobabiting as man and woman, in sexual commerce, without the authority of law, or a legal marriage. Vide 1 Bro. Civ. Law, 80; Merl. Rep. b. t.; Dig. 32, 49, 4; Id. 7, 1, 1; Code, 5, 27, 12.

CONCUBINAGE. - Black's 3rd

A species of loose or informal marriage which took place among the ancients, and is yet in use in some countries. See Concubinatus.
The act or practice of cohabiting, in sexual commerce, without the authority of law or a legal marriage. State v. Adams, 179 Mo. 334, 78 S. W. 588; State v. Overstreet, 43 Kan. 299, 23 P. 572 (Remaining cites omitted.) Living together and having sexual relations as husband and wife; State v. Tucker, 72 Kan. 481, 84 P. 126. The words concubinage and prostitution have no common law meaning, but in their popular sense cover all cases of lewd intercourse; People v. Cummons, 56 Mich. 544, 23 N. W. 215.
An exception against a woman suing for dower, on the ground that she was the concubine, and not the wife, of the man of whose land she seeks to be endowed. Britt. C. 107.

CONCUBINATUS. - Black's 3rd

In Roman law. An informal, unsanctioned, or "natural" marriage, as contradistinguished from the justae nuptiae or justum matrimonium, the civil marriage.

CONCUBINE. - Bouvier's

A woman who cohabits with a man as his wife, without being married.

CONCUBINE. - Black's 3rd

(1) A woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not married. (2) A sort of inferior wife, among the Romans, upon whom the husband did not confer his rank or quality.

contradistinguish - Webster's Unified Dictionary and Encyclopedia (1960)

vt. To differentiate by contrasting qualities.

differentiate - Webster's Unified Dictionary and Encyclopedia (1960)

vi.&vt. 1 To distinguish between. 2 To become different.

different - Webster's Unified Dictionary and Encyclopedia (1960)

adj. Unlike.

CONTRA. - Black's 3rd

Against, confronting, opposite to; on the other hand; on the contrary. The word is used in many Latin phrases, as appears by the following titles. In the books of reports, contra, appended to the name of a judge or counsel, indicates that he held a view of the matter in argument contrary to that next before advanced. Also, after citation of cases in support of a position, contra is often prefixed to citations of cases opposed to it.

DISTINGUISH. - Black's 3rd

To point out an essential difference; to prove a case cited as applicable, inapplicable.

distinguish - Webster's Unified Dictionary and Encyclopedia (1960)

vt. To separate from others by some mark or special quality.

separate - Webster's Unified Dictionary and Encyclopedia (1960)

vi.&vt. To become detached from the whole; to draw apart; to go different ways; to divide; to break away from the whole; to keep apart, as a stream separates the two towns. * * *

adj. Divided from the rest; disconnected; distinct.

2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18* And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
1 Kings 8:53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.

also;

BANS OF MATRIMONY. - Bouveir's

The giving public notice or making proclamation of a matrimonial contract, and the intended celebration of the marriage of the parties in pursuance of such contract, to the end that persons objecting to the same, may have an opportunity to declare such objections before the marriage is solemnized. Poth. Du Mariage, partie 2, c. 2. Vide Ban.

MARRIAGE, PROMISE OF. - Bouvier's

A promise of marriage is a contract entered into between a man and woman that they will marry each other.
2. When the promise is made between persons competent to contract matrimony, an action lies for a breach of it. Vide Promise of Marriage.

MORGANTIC MARRIAGE. - Bouvier's

During the middle ages, there was an intermediate estate between matrimony and concubinage, known by this name. It is defined to be a lawful and inseparable conjunction of a single man, of noble and illustrious birth, with a single woman of an inferior or plebeian station, upon this condition, that neither the wife nor children should partake of the title, arms, or dignity of the husband, nor succeed to his inheritance, but should have a certain allowance assigned to them by the morgantic contract. The marriage ceremony was regularly performed; the union: was for life and indissoluble; and the children were considered legitimate, though they could not inherit. Fred. Code, book 2, art. 3; Potb. Du Marriage, 1, c. 2, s. 2; Shelf. M. & D. 10; Pruss. Code, art. 835.

PROMISE OF MARRIAGE. - Bouvier's

A contract mutually entered into by a man and a woman capable of contracting matrimony, that they will marry each other.
2. When one of the contracting parties violates his or her promise to the other, the latter may support an action against the former for damages, which are sometimes very liberally given. To entitle the plaintiff to recover damages, however, the defendant must not have been incapable of making the contract at, the time, and such incapacity must not have been known to the opposite party; as, if a married man were to promise to marry a woman, and he afterwards refused to do so.
3. The canon law punished these breaches of promises by ecclesiastical censures.
4. According to the ancient jurisprudence of France, damage's could have been recovered for the in execution of this engagement, and cases are reported which show a considerable liberality on this subject. M. Maynon, counsellor in the parliament of Paris, was condemned to sixty thousand livres damages; and a M. Hebert to fourteen thousand livres. D'Hericourt, Lois Ecclesiastiques, titre du Mariage, art. 1, n. 13. By the modern law of France, damages may be recovered for the violation of this contract.
5. In Germany and Holland damages may also be recovered. Voet, in Pandec tas, tit. de sponsalibus, n. 12; Huberus, in Pandectas, eod. tit. n. 19. And the Prussian code regulates the amount of damages to be paid under a variety of circumstances. Part 1, b. 2, tit. 2. Vide 2 Chit. Pr. 52; Rose, Civ. Ev. 193; 2 Car. & P. 631; 4 Esp. R. 258; 1 C. & P. 350; Holt, R. 151; S. C. 3 E. C. L. R. 57; 7 Cowen, 22; 1 John. Cas. 116; 6 Cowen, 254; 4 Cowen, 355; 7 Wend. 142.

COVERTURE. - Bouvier's

The state or condition of a married woman.
2. During coverture, the being of the wife is civilly merged, for many purposes, into that of her hushand; she can, therefore, in general, make no contracts without his consent, express or implied. Com. Dig. Baron and Feme, W; Pleader, 2 A 1; 1 Ch. Pl. 19, 45; Litt. s. 28; Chit. Contr. 39; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 276.
3. To this rule there are some exceptions: she may contract, when it is for her benefit, as to save her from starvation. Chit. Contr. 40.
4. In some cases, when coercion has been used by the hushand to induce her to commit crime, she is exempted from punishment. 1 Ha1e, P. C. 516; 1 Russ. Cr. 16.

COVERTURE. - Black's 3rd

in French law, is the deposit ("margin") made by the client in the hands of the broker, either of a sum of money or of securities, in order to guaranty the broker for the payment of the securities which he purchases for the client. Arg. Fr. Merc. Law, 555.

DISCOVERT. - Bouvier's

Not covert, unmarried. The term is applied to a woman unmarried, or widow; one not within the bonds of matrimony.

DISCOVERT. - Black's 3rd

Not married; not subject to the disabilities of a coverture. It applies equally to a maid and a widow.

covert - Webster's Unified Dictionary and Encyclopedia (1960)

n. 1 A thicket, a hiding place for game. 2 A woolen fabric, or one of wool and silk or wool and rayon, freq. waterproofed. 3 Feathers protecting bases of quills of a bird's wings and tail.

covert - Webster's Unified Dictionary and Encyclopedia (1960)

adj. Hidden, concealed; furtive.

See also in Bouvier's: HEIR and LOYAL.

(q. v. An abbreviation of "quod vide," used to refer a reader to the word, chapter, etc., the name of which it immediately follows.)

Latin words
from: The Classic Latin Dictionary, Follet Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1961, copyright 1928.

coemptio -onis, f. (coemo), 1, a form of marriage which consited of a reciprocal sale of the parties to one another, Cic.; 2, a ficticious marriage to enable a woman to acquire certain rights, Cic.

connubium -li, n. (com and nubo), 1, a, a legal Roman marriage; seuuntur connubia et affinitates, Cic.; poet., marriage in general, Pyrrhi connubia servare, Verg.; b, intercourse, Ov.; 2, the right of intermarriage; connubium finitimis negare, Liv. (in poets often trisyll., connubjo, Verg., Aen. i. 73, vii. 96).

fareus -a -um (far), made of spelt of corn generally. Subst., farreum -1, n. a spelt-cake, *lin[not legible].

juste

maritus

matrimonium

nuptiae

potestas

usus -us, m. (utor), use, using, making use of, application, practice, exercise. I. Lit., A. Gen., usus privatus, Cic.; quia ea pecunia non posset in bellum usui esse, Liv.; scienta atque usus rerum nauticarium, theory and practice, Caes.usus magister est optimus, Cic. B. Esp., 1, intercourse with men; a, social intercourse, familiarity; domesticus usus et consuetudo, Cic.; b, carnal intercourse, Ov.; 2, legal t. t., usus et fructus, usus fructusque, usufructus, the use and enjoyment of property not one's own, Cic.; usus fructus omnium bonorum, Cic. II. Transf., 1, practice = practical experience; usus atque exercitatio, Cic.;amicitia quam nec usu (by experience) nec ratione (by theory) habent congitam, Cic.; habere magnum in re militari or in castris usum, Caes.; 2, ...

Online Latin (and Greek) definitions available here: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/lexica.html