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Levirate vs Sororate - What's the difference?

levirate | sororate | coordinate terms |

Sororate is a coordinate term of levirate.



As nouns the difference between levirate and sororate

is that levirate is a marriage between a widow and her deceased husband's brother or, sometimes, heir while sororate is the custom of the marriage of a man to the sister of his wife, usually after the wife has died.

As an adjective levirate

is having to do with one's husband's brother.

levirate

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Having to do with one's husband's brother.
  • Usage notes

    * This adjective is used almost exclusively as part of the phrase (levirate marriage).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) A marriage between a widow and her deceased husband's brother or, sometimes, heir.
  • (anthropology) The institution of levirate marriage.
  • * 1894 , Edward Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage , second ed., Macmillan and Co., page 510,
  • And it is, he says, impossible not to believe that the Levirate —that is, the practice of marrying a dead brother's widow—is derived from polyandry.
  • * 1986 , John S. Scullion, translator, Genesis 37-50: A Continental Commentary by Claus Westermann, Fortress Press, ISBN 080069502X, page 52,
  • It is only a secondary purpose of the levirate that the property of the deceased passes on to the one who is heir to his name, and is probably a later accretion.
  • * 2006 , Gary P. Ferraro, Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective , Thomson Wadsworth, ISBN 0495030392, page 219,
  • The levirate is found in patrilineal societies in which the bride marries into her husband's family while essentially severing her ties with her original family.

    Anagrams

    *

    sororate

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • The custom of the marriage of a man to the sister of his wife, usually after the wife has died.
  • * 1967 , Han-chi Fêng, The Chinese Kinship System , page 46,
  • The sororate was operative during the feudal period, at least among the feudal lords.
  • * 2007 , Leslie A. White, The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilization to the Fall of Rome , page 99,
  • The sororate' is frequently associated with the custom of bride price; if the husband?s kindred have “bought” a wife for him and she dies, her family or kindred are obligated to replace her. The institutions of levirate and ' sororate are very widespread in primitive society, and in many instances a tribe will observe both customs.
  • * 2010 , William A. Haviland, Harald E. L. Prins, Bunny McBride, Dana Walrath, Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge , page 219,
  • A related marriage tradition is the sororate''''' (Latin ''soror'' means “sister”), in which a man has the right to marry a (usually younger) sister of his deceased wife. In some societies, the ' sororate also applies to a man who has married a woman who is unable to bear children.
  • A marriage according to this custom.
  • * 1972 , Donald Olen Cowgill, Lowell Don Holmes. Aging and Modernization , page 54,
  • Sororates had a similar effect of providing for the survivors of a deceased.
  • * 1977 , P. R. G. Mathur, Tribal Situation in Kerala , page 56,
  • Marriage within the same clan is prohibited. However, levirates and sororates are prevalent among the Kurumbas. Widow marriage is permitted.
  • * 2002 , Kumar Suresh Singh, People of India , Volume 27, Part 3, page 1549,
  • Junior sororates are allowed. Age at marriage for males is between 20 and 22 years and for girls two to four years after puberty.

    Coordinate terms

    * levirate

    See also

    * polygyny