以上諸多單詞均可用于表示某人的婚姻狀況。其中，bigamy 為“重婚罪”，指兩種情況：（1)有效婚姻存續(xù)期間與另一人結(jié)婚的犯罪行為（notifiable offense of going through a ceremony of marriage to someone when you are still married to someone else。[1])；(2)在知道對方為有夫之婦或有婦之夫時，仍與其同居的犯罪行為(Sometimes, the crime of cohabiting with a person with knowledge that one or the other of the cohabiting parties is married to someone else[2] ) 。重婚罪在英國等屬于嚴重犯罪（ serious offense) ,重婚罪犯則被稱為bigamist。digamy是指因第一次婚姻無效、或離婚或配偶死亡后的“再婚”（a second marriage after the death of, or annulment or divorce from the first spouse [3])，其也稱為 deuterogamy 和 digama。monogamy 為“一夫一妻制”，其為多數(shù)國家認可（the marriage of one wife to one husband, a custom prevalent in most modem cultures[4]) 。polygamy 為多配偶制， 指一個人同時可有兩個或兩個以上配偶（the state of being simultaneously marriage to more than one spouses[5])，其包括 polygyny (—夫多妻制)(the condition or practice of having more than one wife [6])和 polyandry (—妻多夫制）（the condition or practice of having more than one husband[7])兩種形式。在加拿大或英國等， polygamy被視為一種犯罪，其包括同時與多人同居（an offense to practice or enter into or in any manner agree or consent to practice or enter into：any form of polygamy，or any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time, whether or not it is by law recognized as a binding form of marriage[8] )
[1] Cf. P. H. Collin, Dictionary of Law, 2nd edition, at p. 54, Peter Collin Publishing (1993).
[2] Cf. James E. Clapp, Random House Webster's Dictionary of the Law，at p. 53， Random House, New York (2000).
[3] Cf. Bryan A. Gamer, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th edition, at p. 461，West Group (1999).
[4] Id. at p. 1023. Cf. Daphne Dukelow, The Dictionary of Canadian Law, at p. 651 , Thomson Professional Publishing Canada (1991).
[5] Cf. Bryan A. Gamer, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th edition, at p. 1180，West Group (1999).
[6] Id. at p. 1180.
[7] Id. at p. 1180.
[8] Cf. Daphne Dukelow, The Dictionary of Canadian Law, at p. 788, Thomson Professional Publishing Canada (1991).