{ Lev"i*rate (l&ebreve;v"&ibreve;*r&asl;t), Lev`i*rat"ic*al (-răt"&ibreve;*kal), } a. [L. levir a husband's brother, brother- in-law; akin to Gr. dah`r: cf. F. lévirat leviration.] Of, pertaining to, or in accordance with, a law of the ancient Israelites and other tribes and races, according to which a woman, whose husband died without issue, was married to the husband's brother.

The firstborn son of a leviratical marriage was reckoned and registered as the son of the deceased brother.