Marital
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
Bouvier defines it as meaning that which belongs to marriage; as marital rights, marital duties. But we think it is generally (not invariably) used of that which pertains to the husband in marriage. Marital rights would usually be understood to mean the rights accorded to the husband in view of the marriage relation; and marital duties, the duties of the husband, not those of the wife. Curtesy, for example, is a marital privilege, while dower is not. Webster and "Worcester, both depending on Aylifie as authority, give the word this restricted meaning only, and Wharton concurs.