Divorcee
Encyclopedia
Divorcee, refers to a person whose marriage has ended in divorce
, a legal dissolution of marriage before death by either spouse.http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divorc%C3%A9e http://www.thefreedictionary.com/divorcee 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.
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.
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
, a legal dissolution of marriage before death by either spouse.http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/divorc%C3%A9e http://www.thefreedictionary.com/divorcee 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 divorceNo-fault divorce
No-fault divorce is a divorce in which the dissolution of a marriage requires neither a showing of wrong-doing of either party nor any evidentiary proceedings at all...
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
Grounds for divorce
Grounds for divorce are regulations specifying the circumstances under which a person will be granted a divorce. Each state in the United States has its own set of grounds...
. 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.