adultery

the word 'adultery' entered english in the early 14th century via old french 'avoutrie', which originated from latin 'adulterium', meaning "violation of the marriage bed." this latin noun is derived from the verb 'adulterare', meaning "to corrupt, to debauch, to commit adultery." the verb itself is a compound, formed from 'ad-' (meaning "to") and 'alter' (meaning "other"), thus carrying the core idea of "changing to another, corrupting by mixture." this etymological sense of "altering" or "mixing with another" evolved specifically to denote the violation of marital exclusivity. the modern english meaning retains this specific legal and moral concept of sexual infidelity by a married person.

the word is a simplex form derived as a whole from old french 'avoutrie', which itself came from latin 'adulterium'. it is not productively segmented into meaningful sub-parts in modern english spelling.