Black's Law Dictionary (2nd edition)dictionaries

Elopement

The act of a wife who voluntarily deserts her husband to cohabit with another man. 2 Bl. Comm. 130. To constitute an elopement, the wife must not only leave the husband, bnt go beyond his actual control; for if she abandons the hus* band, and goes and lives in adultery in a house belonging to him, it is said not to be an elopement Cogswell v. Tibbetts, 3 N. H. 42

Source: Black’s Law Dictionary 2nd Ed (1910)