BIG'AMY, noun [Latin bis, twice, and Gr. to marry, marriage.] The crime of having two wives at once. But the term is ordinarily used as synonymous with Polygamy, and may be more justly defined, the crime of having a plurality of wives. In the canon law, bigamy was the marrying a second wife after the death of the first, or once marrying a widow. This disqualified a man for orders, and holding ecclesiastical offices.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI