Plural of alimony; multiple cases of allowances paid for the support and maintenance of a spouse or ex-spouse.
From Latin alimentum ('nourishment') through the English 'alimony,' with the plural 's' added. Alimony entered English in the 1600s from this Latin root.
Courts love the word 'alimonies' in legal briefs—when documenting multiple alimony cases, it makes everything sound more official and Latin-ish, which somehow seems to make the rulings stick better!
Alimony historically encoded assumptions about male breadwinning and female economic dependency. The legal framework emerged from coverture doctrine, where married women had no independent property rights, making alimony the only financial recourse after divorce for wives economically dependent on husbands.
Use gender-neutral language: 'spousal support' or 'spousal maintenance' rather than alimony, which carries gendered historical baggage about women's dependency and male financial obligation.
["spousal support","spousal maintenance","financial support"]
Women's advocates fought for alimony law reform in the 1960s-80s to recognize both spouses' economic contributions and to enable women's financial independence rather than permanent economic dependence on ex-partners.
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