Daily Ancestoraffinitas
Affinitas is Latin for relationship by marriage, such as in-laws; marriage records may note it when a couple were related that way.
Affinitas is kinship through marriage rather than blood: a man and his late wife's sister, for example. Church law treated some of these relationships as a bar to marriage too, so a register may record a dispensation for affinity.
If a widower married his late wife's sister or cousin, look for this word. It confirms both marriages and links the two wives' families.
As seen in a recordNote in a Latin marriage register
dispensati ab impedimento affinitatis
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "affinitas." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/affinitas. Last checked 2026-10-01.