Definition
"Lygamy" does not appear to be a recognized legal term. The word is most likely a typographical or OCR error for BIGAMY (the offense of marrying one person while already legally married to another) or possibly POLYGAMY (the practice of having multiple simultaneous spouses).
No independent legal definition for "lygamy" appears in Anderson's Dictionary of Law or any other recognized legal dictionary in the Law Mind corpus. The source material provided under this heading contains unrelated text regarding territorial legislative assemblies and incorporation acts, confirming that no substantive entry for this term exists in the indexed source.
Researchers encountering "lygamy" in a historical document, index, or search result should treat it as a probable error and redirect their research accordingly.
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Common Confusion
LYGAMY / BIGAMY / POLYGAMY: These three strings are easily confused in OCR-processed historical texts. The letterforms "B," "P," and "L" are among the most common OCR substitution errors in scanned legal materials, particularly in nineteenth-century typefaces. "Bigamy" is the most likely intended term in a common law or American statutory context. "Polygamy" appears more frequently in constitutional and territorial law discussions, particularly in materials related to Utah Territory and federal anti-polygamy legislation from the 1860s through the 1890s.
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Why It Matters in Research
This entry exists as a navigational flag, not a substantive definition. Researchers using the Law Mind corpus should be aware of several practical issues:
First, OCR degradation is a persistent problem in digitized legal materials. Scanned nineteenth-century dictionaries, reporters, and statutes frequently produce garbled terms in full-text indexes. A search returning "lygamy" almost certainly reflects a scanning artifact rather than a term of art.
Second, if the underlying research question concerns the offense of marrying while already married, the correct search terms are BIGAMY (the criminal offense under common law and most American statutes) and POLYGAMY (which carries additional constitutional dimensions in American law, particularly under the anti-polygamy acts targeting the Utah Territory). These terms have distinct legal histories and should not be used interchangeably in historical research.
Third, the source material retrieved under this heading — text about territorial legislative assemblies and bond issuance — is plainly unrelated to any marriage-related term. This mismatch suggests a corpus indexing error or OCR collision, not a genuine dictionary entry. Researchers should not rely on this retrieved passage as authority for any proposition.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Anderson's Dictionary of Law does not contain a substantive entry for "lygamy." The text retrieved under this heading concerns amendments to Revised Statutes provisions governing territorial legislative powers and is unrelated to any marriage offense. No synthesis across historical sources is possible for this term because the term itself does not exist as a legal entry in any identified source.
For historical dictionary support on the underlying concepts, see the entries for BIGAMY and POLYGAMY, where Anderson's and other shelf sources provide substantive treatment.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See BIGAMY and POLYGAMY (Law Mind Encyclopedia) for substantive treatment of the relevant legal concepts.
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