• morganatic •
Pronunciation: mor-gê-næ-tik
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Pertaining to kind of marriage between a member of the nobility and a commoner that blocks the transmission of noble rank to the commoner and precludes any claim by their offspring on the title or estate.
Notes: A morganatic marriage is sometimes called a "left-handed marriage" (from German "Ehe zur linken Hand") because in the German morganatic ceremony the bridegroom gives the bride his left, rather than his right hand. Be careful not to drop a syllable; we hear morganic far too frequently.
In Play: Today's good word is a follow-up to our recent word consort, in which we claimed that Camilla Parker Bowles would not become Queen Consort when Prince Charles ascends to the throne. That was before the Department for Constitutional Affairs spoke out on the issue, affirming that she would become Queen by current law, when Charles accedes to the throne. This means that their wedding will not be morganatic. However, in the latest breaking news, Ms. Bowles declares that she will decline the title "Queen" if offered it. Stay tuned.
Word History: Today's word is a reduction of a mildly Germanesque Latin phrase matrimonium ad morganaticam "marriage with a morning gift," morgan being a reduction of morgangeba an earlier form of German Morgengabe "morning gift." The point was that the commoner in such a bond is entitled to nothing beyond the gift they receive on the morning after the wedding. In fact, the adjective may have been nothing more than a Latinization of a variant of the German compound, morganegyba, but you get the point.
MORGANATIC
- Dr. Goodword
- Site Admin
- Posts: 7451
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
- Location: Lewisburg, PA
- Contact:
MORGANATIC
• The Good Dr. Goodword
-
- Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 1464
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:31 pm
- Location: Botucatu - SP Brazil
I just get this feeling that there is something very sinister about a morganatic type of marriage!
left-handed
Apo
left-handed
Apo
'Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.' -Max Planck
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
Sinister?I just get this feeling that there is something very sinister about a morganatic type of marriage!
left-handed
Apo
I love the juxtaposition of left and dexterous/dexterity!left-handed
1. Having the left hand or arm stronger and more dexterous than the right; using the left hand and arm with more dexterity than the right.
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
Return to “Good Word Discussion”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 112 guests