mesalliance
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˌmɛzəˈlaɪəns/
- Formal
- He faced social backlash after his mesalliance with a woman whose family was less respected in their community.
Examples
-
She was born, well, downtown by the Industrial Canal," he whispered, as if still incredulous over his mesalliance, "and that one night of glory was incredibly meaningful to her.
Fiction book (2001) -
She had deteriorated ever since her sad mesalliance with Shina's father, her second husband.
Fiction book (1997) -
Insulated from criticism and scrutiny by a wall of money and advisors, Bloomberg put together a mesalliance easily as strange as that which elected Hahn in Los Angeles.
Academic text (2002) -
Villaraigosa was defeated in the run-off by Hahn, who assembled a mesalliance of black voters from South Los Angeles and white moderates from the San Fernando Valley.
Academic text (2002) -
Many people in her family disapproved of her mesalliance with someone from a less affluent background.
-
Their mesalliance sparked debate among the upper class about social equality and marriage norms.
Synonyms
1
9.9
Marriage to someone in a lower social or economic class
1
9.9
A marriage people think is not suitable because of different social rank or background
Surface Forms
Morphology
mesalliance = alliance (semi-transparent) = mes + alliance
The sense is built from a negative prefix plus 'alliance' so the negative relational meaning is inferable, but the prefix 'mes-' is an archaic/French borrowing (not a productive modern English prefix), and the social-status nuance may not be obvious to all learners.
Etymology
Mesalliance comes from old French parts mes- meaning 'bad' and alliance meaning 'marriage' or 'joining', and you can see the same alliance in English. So a mesalliance is literally a 'bad marriage', used for a marriage with someone seen as lower in social class.