What is Adultery?
[[File:Jules Arsène Garnier - Le supplice des adultères.jpg|thumb|350px|''Le supplice des adultères'' by [[Jules Arsène Garnier]] shows an adulterous couple being punished]] '''Adultery''' (informally known as '''cheating''' in non-religious situations) is a word used in [[religion|religious]] texts like [[Exodus]] 20:14. Adultery applies to a [[married]] person [[sexual intercourse|having sex with]] someone other than the person who they are married to. In countries where religion is important, adultery often comes with a heavy punishment. Some [[Muslim]] countries punish it with death by [[stoning]]. In most countries adultery is no longer a [[crime]], but most people still see it as a bad thing.(see [[Gospel of John]] 8) If a person who is married takes part in adultery, that person's husband or wife would usually have the right to be able to go to [[court]] to [[divorce]] them. == Word origin == The word adultery originates not from “adult”, as is commonly thought in English-speaking countries, but from the Late Latin word for “to alter, corrupt”: “adulterare”. “Adulterare” in turn is formed by the combination of “ad” (towards), and “alter” (other), together with the [[infinitive]] form “are” (making it a verb). Thus the meaning is literally “to make other”. In contrast, the word “adult” (meaning a person of mature years) comes from another Latin root, “adolescere”, meaning to grow up or mature: a combination of “ad” (towards), “alere” (to nourish, to grow), and the inchoative infix “sc”(meaning to enter into a state of). == Literature == Famous adulterers include : * [[Paris (mythology)]] and [[Helen]] in the [[Iliad]] * [[Lancelot]] and [[King Arthur|Guinevere]] * [[David]] and [[Bathsheba]] the wife of Uriah ([[2 Samuel]] 11) * [[Anna Karenina]] and Vronsky * [[Madame Bovary]] by [[Gustave Flaubert]] * [[The Tale of Genji|Genji]] * [[The Scarlet Letter|Hestor Prynne]] * [[Othello]] == Related pages == * [[Infidelity]]: the same concept, but without a religious background [[Category:Adultery| ]]