Page "Morganatic marriage" Paragraph 5

Morganatic, already in use in English by 1727 ( according to the Oxford English Dictionary ), is derived from the medieval Latin morganaticus from the Late Latin phrase matrimonium ad morganaticam and refers to the gift given by the groom to the bride on the morning after the wedding, morning gift, i. e. dower.

The Latin term, applied to a Germanic custom, was adopted from a Germanic term, * morgangeba ( compare Early English morgengifu, German Morgengabe, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål Morgengave, Norwegian Nynorsk Morgongåve and Swedish Morgongåva ).

The literal meaning is explained in a 16th-century passage quoted by Du Cange as, " a marriage by which the wife and the children that may be born are entitled to no share in the husband's possessions beyond the ' morning-gift '".