morganatic: [18] A morganatic marriage is one between people of different social status, in which the rank and entitlements of the higherstatus partner are not shared by the lower or their offspring. The word morganatic is a survival of an ancient Germanic marriage custom. On the morning after the wedding night, after the marriage had been consummated, the husband gave the wife a symbolic gift, which removed any further legal claim the wife or their children might have on his possessions.
The term for this useful gift was *morgangeba, a compound formed from *morgan (ancestor of English morning) and *geba (a noun formed from the same base as produced English give). The word was adopted into medieval Latin as morganaticus, from which (via either French or German) English got morganatic. => morning, give
1727, from French morganatique (18c.), from Medieval Latin matrimonium ad morganaticam "marriage of the morning," probably from Old High German *morgangeba (Middle High German morgengabe) "morning gift," corresponding to Old English morgengifu (see morn + gift). In an unequal marriage between a man of royal blood and a common woman, this was a gift traditionally given to the wife on the morning after consummation, representing the only share she and her children may claim in the husband's estate. Also known as left-handed marriage, because the groom gives the bride his left hand instead of his right, but sometimes this latter term is used of a class of marriage (especially in Germany) where the spouse of inferior rank is not elevated, but the children inherit rights of succession. Related: Morganatically.
