Adultery means illicit intercourse had by a married person. In some older systems of law, as the Jewish, Roman, and Greek, a distinction was taken between such intercourse with a married and with an unmarried woman. At Rome, the latter act was called stuprum. But this distinction has been generally abandoned in modern times. Under the canon law, which considered marriage as indissoluble, separation was granted to either spouse for adultery. Since the Reformation, in Protestant countries, adultery has been generally recognised as a ground for complete divorce, at the instance of either husband or wife. In Scotland, this is generally referred to a statute in 1567, but it was previously announced as the common law. In England, divorce could be obtained only through private statute until 1858, when the present law was established which makes a distinction between the sinning husband and the sinning wife. The wife's adultery is sufficient to procure the divorce for the husband; but to free the wife, the husband's adultery must be shown to be complicated with incest, bigamy, gross cruelty, or two years' desertion. In Scotland, adultery or wilful desertion by the husband will free the wife. Adultery was a crime severely punishable by the Jewish and the Roman law, and many modern systems of law, but it is doubtful how far these laws were executed. At Rome, they completely broke down. In Scotland, capital punishment was inflicted in remote times, but now only ecclesiastical censure. Adultery in the case of clergy leads to deprivation of office. In both England and Scotland, damages may be claimed by the injured husband from the paramour, and this was the case in England even before 1858, when the Divorce Court was introduced. In England, adulterers are allowed to marry, after the marriage has been dissolved at the instance of the innocent spouse. In Scotland, however, a statute passed in 1600, which is still in force, forbids this. See DIVORCE, JUDICIAL SEPARATION.
In the United States, adultery is a civil injury, for which the husband of the woman can have an action of damages against her paramour. Adultery is also a crime, punishable by fine and imprisonment, with more or less severity throughout the United States.