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それは横恋慕と

横恋慕 means falling in love with someone who is already in a romantic
relationship with someone else.

However, according to the dictionary the translation would be illicit love.
Can someone explain it to me? Why would it be illicit?
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2017-03-23T03:36:10.477
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words
Does 横恋慕 mean illicit love?
According to 明鏡国語辞典:

> よこれんぼ【横恋慕】〘名・自サ変〙すでに **配偶者** や恋人のある人に、横合いから恋をすること。

横恋慕 means "falling in love with someone who is already married or in a
relationship". So 横恋慕 is _not always_ illicit; if you fell in love with
someone who is already married, it would be considered an illicit love.
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2017-03-23T04:59:21.850
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To me, 横恋慕 (literally "traverse love") itself is a neutral word in terms of
ethics. [Wikipedia
says](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A8%AA%E6%81%8B%E6%85%95):

> 横恋慕をした際には、具体的行動を起こさずに胸の内に秘めておく場合もあれば、具体的行動を起こして恋愛感情の要求を満たそうとする場合がある。

So 横恋慕 does not necessarily mean actually trying to steal someone from
someone. No one can stop you from just liking someone silently.

If a person actually establishes a romantic relationship who already has a
romantic partner, it's usually called 二股 (two-timing), which clearly sounds
more negative and unethical. Having a relationship with a married person is
called 浮気, which is of course considered really bad. If the person actually
has stolen someone completely (i.e., resulting in parting with his/her
original partner), that's called 略奪愛.

I'm sorry but I have no idea which category English "illicit love" falls into.
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2017-03-23T05:01:42.423
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