What does "sororate" mean?

The custom of the marriage of a man to the sister of his wife, usually after the wife has died.

What is a synonym for "sororate"?

Common synonyms include: levirate.

Pronounced //səˈɹɔːɹət//.

//səˈɹɔːɹət// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The custom of the marriage of a man to the sister of his wife, usually after the wife has died. countable, uncountable
"The sororate was operative during the feudal period, at least among the feudal lords."
2
A marriage according to this custom. countable, uncountable
"Sororates had a similar effect of providing for the survivors of a deceased."

"The sororate was operative during the feudal period, at least among the feudal lords."

Latin soror (“sister”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.