maritus

Maritus is a Latin noun meaning husband. In classical Latin, it designates a male spouse within marriage and appears in legal, literary, and social contexts. The counterpart for wife is uxor, though maritus can function stylistically to emphasize the husband’s role in a marital relationship. In Roman law and practice, marriage could involve different forms of authority and property arrangements, such as manus (the husband’s control over his wife in certain marriage types) and sine manu (a marriage without such control). The phrase uxore et marito or uxors et maritus is sometimes found in Latin texts to denote the married couple.

Modern usage and influence: In contemporary English and other languages, maritus is rarely used outside scholarly, historical, or neo-Latin contexts. When encountered, it is typically in discussions of ancient Rome or in stylistic, pseudo-Latin phrasing. The term has also influenced related vocabulary; the English word marital derives from Latin maritalis, meaning pertaining to marriage or the maritally related sphere, and ultimately connects back to maritus through the broader Latin terminology for marriage.

Related concepts: Maritus is part of a broader vocabulary surrounding marriage in Latin, including terms like uxor (wife) and manus/sine manu (forms of marital authority). It is frequently encountered in discussions of Roman family life, marriage laws, and classical literature, where the dynamics between maritus, uxor, and other participants illuminate social and legal structures of ancient Rome.