levirate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the biblical institution whereby a man must marry the widow of his childless brother in order to maintain the brother's line

WordNet

Lev"i*rate, Lev`i*rat"ic*al adjective (Also<
  • Levirate
  • Leviratical
)
Etymology
L. levir a husband's brother, brother-in-law; akin to Gr. : cf. F. lévirat leviration.
Definitions
  1. Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with, a law of the ancient Israelites and other tribes and races, according to which a woman, whose husband died without issue, was married to the husband's brother.
    The firstborn son of a leviratical marriage was reckoned and registered as the son of the deceased brother. Alford.

Webster 1913