Ancient Rome actually penalized celibacy with tax penalties — the word caelebs (unmarried) is so old that even the Romans didn't know where it came from.
The state of abstaining from marriage and sexual relations, especially for religious reasons. Also used more loosely to mean abstinence from sex.
From Latin caelibatus (state of being unmarried), from caelebs (unmarried, single), of uncertain deeper origin, possibly from an Italic root meaning 'alone' or 'living alone' Key roots: caelebs (Latin: "unmarried, single, bachelor").
Roman law actually penalized celibacy: Augustus's Lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus (18 BCE) imposed tax penalties on unmarried citizens and restricted their inheritance rights. The Romans needed children for their armies and considered deliberate childlessness antisocial. Catholic clerical celibacy was not universally mandated until the Second Lateran Council in 1139 — before that, many priests