Adultery

(a-dul'tur-e.) [L. adulterium.] (Law.) A violation of the nuptial bed; an offence which has been regarded by all civilized nations with abhorrence, and in ancient times was punished as a great crime. By the Jewish law, the penalty was death, which was inflicted by stoning. The various countries of Europe have, at different times, punished it in different ways, and sometimes with great severity. In the U. States, as now in England, A. is only a ground for divorce. [s. 9]