Jactitation of Marriage Law and Legal Definition
The word jactitate is derived from the Latin word "jactare," which means to "throw, toss about, discuss, or boast of." In English Law, jactitation of marriage is untruthful boasting of one party that s/he is married to another. The English ecclesiastical courts began to entertain actions against those who made such boasts from at least late fifteenth century onwards. A successful private suit established the plaintiff's right to marry someone else. An unsuccessful suit established that plaintiff and defendant had entered into a valid marriage.
