Divorcee

Divorcee

Divorcee, refers to a person whose marriage has ended in divorce, a legal dissolution of marriage before death by either spouse.[1] [2] The feminine form is "divorcée", and the masculine "divorcé". At one time the term had negative cultural and religious associations. In Europe and North America this began to moderate in the 1960s.

Past connotations

Before no-fault divorce became popular, divorces were granted on the basis of fault on the part of one or the other (or both) of the spouses. Divorce was thus a scandalous phenomenon: one or both of the spouses had committed at least one of the narrowly-defined grounds for divorce. In those days, the wife was almost always allowed to file for divorce (even if the husband wanted the divorce, or if the wife had committed the fault). Nevertheless, a divorced woman was subject to considerable social opprobrium.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • divorcee — divorced woman, 1813, from Fr. divorcée, from noun use of fem. pp. of divorcer (see DIVORCE (Cf. divorce)). The male equivalent in French is divorcé …   Etymology dictionary

  • divorcee — is the established word in either gender for someone who has been divorced. The French forms divorcé and divorcée are also used for a man and a woman respectively, especially in AmE, and are useful when a gender specific term is needed …   Modern English usage

  • divorcee — ► NOUN (US masc. divorcé, fem. divorcée) ▪ a divorced person. ORIGIN French divorcé(e) divorced man (or woman) …   English terms dictionary

  • divorcée — ☆ divorcée or divorcee [di vôr′sā΄, div′ôrsē΄; div΄ôr sā′, div΄ôrsē′ ] n. [Fr, fem. of DIVORCÉ] a divorced woman …   English World dictionary

  • Divorcee — Di*vor cee , n. A person divorced. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • divorcée — /di vawr say , see , vohr , vawr say, vohr /, n. a divorced woman. Also, divorcee. [1805 15; < F divorcée, fem. of divorcé DIVORCÉ] * * * …   Universalium

  • divorcée — UK [dɪˌvɔː(r)ˈsiː] / US [dɪˌvɔrˈseɪ] noun [countable] Word forms divorcée : singular divorcée plural divorcées a woman who is divorced …   English dictionary

  • divorcée — ● divorcé, divorcée adjectif et nom Se dit de quelqu un dont le mariage a été dissous légalement …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • divorcee — [[t]dɪvɔ͟ː(r)si͟ː[/t]] divorcees N COUNT A divorcee is a person, especially a woman, who is divorced …   English dictionary

  • divorcée — [[t]dɪvɔ͟ː(r)siː[/t]] divorcées N COUNT A divorcée is a woman who is divorced. [mainly AM] …   English dictionary

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