a mensa et thoro

[L., from board and bed.]
(Law) A kind of divorce which does not dissolve the marriage bond, but merely authorizes a separate life of the husband and wife. Abbott.

Latin, From table and bed, but more commonly translated as "from bed and board."

This phrase designates a divorce which is really akin to a separation granted by a court whereby a husband and wife are not legally obligated to live together, but their marriage has not been dissolved. Neither spouse has the right to remarry where there is a divorce a mensa et thoro; only parties who have been awarded a divorce a vinculo matrimonii, the more common type of divorce, can do so.