Misogamy is an aversion to or hatred of

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

. The word dates from the mid-17th century and combines the Greek ''misos'' (hatred) with ''gamos'' (marriage). Merriam-Webster date the first use of the word to around 1656.

Medieval background

The idea of misogamy was important in the Christian church during the

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire an ...

as a prerequisite for the

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

required to occupy the highest positions in the church.Wilson, Katharina M. & Elizabeth M. Makowski. (1990) ''Wykked Wyves and the Woes of Marriage: Misogamous Literature from Juvenal to Chaucer''. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 1. It was developed in the philosophy of

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routle ...

who became the "canonical authority on philosophic misogamy throughout the Middle Ages".''Germanic Notes'', Erasmus Press, 1989. p. 93. Sara E. Diaz writes that two types of misogamy existed during the period, one advising all men against marriage, and another more limited form advising wise men against marriage."Authority and Misogamy in Boccaccio's ''Trattatello in laude di Dante''"
by Sara E. Diaz in

In literature

The literature of misogamy has been surveyed by Katharina Wilson and Elizabeth Makowski in their book ''Wykked Wyves and the Woes of Marriage: Misogamous Literature from Juvenal to Chaucer'', published by the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...

in 1990.

References

Criticism of marriage {{society-stub