Conjugal

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈkɒndʒʊɡəl/

Definitions

1. Relating to marriage or the relationship between husband and wife
2. Pertaining to the marital relationship or the bond shared by spouses
3. Connected to the union of marriage and the intimacy between partners in a marital context

Etymology: The word carries the image of a yoke. Its Latin ancestor, "coniugalis," came from "coniugium," marriage, which was built on "coniugare," to join together, and that verb rested on "iugum," the wooden crossbar that bound a pair of oxen to plough or cart. Marriage, in other words, was once pictured as two partners harnessed side by side under a shared load. The "con-" prefix means "together," so the Latin sense of the word was literally "of the yoke-together," that is, of joined partners. English took the term from Middle French "conjugal," which passed it along in its marital sense, and the English adjective has kept that meaning ever since, applied to the rights, duties and affections between spouses. The same yoke image lies behind other words in the family. "Conjugate," used of verbs, descends from the same Latin verb "coniugare," which is why grammarians borrowed a marriage metaphor to describe how verb forms are joined to endings.

Synonyms: marital, nuptial, spousal

Antonyms: single, divorced