morganatic
Commoner weds crown
Morganatic describes a marriage between a royal or noble person and someone of lower rank, in which the lower-ranking spouse and any children cannot inherit the higher-ranking partner's titles or property.
The arrangement allowed aristocrats to marry for love without disrupting succession: The duke's morganatic wife never became duchess.
The term is historical, from an era when such distinctions mattered legally.
Hereditary supreme ruler
- sovereignSupreme in power
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
- princeRoyal family male
princess · lineage · aristocracy · nobility · duke · duchess · commoner · court
Unsuitable union, especially matrimonial
wedding · vows · ceremony · bride · groom · betrothal · conjugal · consort
Measurable difference between things
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- unequalNot the same
- stratificationDivision into distinct levels
- classismPrejudice by economic rank
class distinction · social rank · status · mismatch · imbalance · subordination · inferior · superior
monarch
Hereditary supreme ruler
prince · princess · lineage · aristocracy · nobility · duke · duchess · commoner · court · heir
misalliance
Unsuitable union, especially matrimonial
union · wedding · vows · ceremony · bride · groom · betrothal · conjugal · consort · wedlock
disparity
Measurable difference between things
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- unequalNot the same
- stratificationDivision into distinct levels
classism · class distinction · social rank · status · mismatch · imbalance · subordination · inferior · superior · caste