intermarriage

American  

[in-ter-mar-ij, in-ter-mar-ij] / ˌɪn tərˈmær ɪdʒ, ˈɪn tərˌmær ɪdʒ /

noun

1. marriage between people of different religions, tribes, castes, ethnicities, or racial groups, as between a white person and a Black person or between a Christian and a Muslim.

2. marriage between people of different social classes.

3. marriage within a specific social or cultural group, as required by custom or law; endogamy.

4. marriage between people belonging to the same small group, especially if they are close blood relatives.

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Etymology

Origin of intermarriage

First recorded in 1570–80; inter- + marriage

Example Sentences

But I have spoken to more than I can count who were treated as though they did not, in fact, belong because they were the product of intermarriage, or because they themselves were intermarried.

From Slate • Jan. 8, 2024

Robbins said her wife graduated from TCU, “so it already generates some intermarriage household rivalry.”

From Washington Times • Aug. 22, 2023

The Mizrahim who make up around half of Israel's Jewish majority - a figure hard to pin down due to widespread intermarriage with Ashkenazim - have at times complained of discrimination and socio-economic disadvantage.

From Reuters • Jul. 16, 2023

Try to follow the “abridged” genealogical chart provided by the museum, with its interlocking axes of descendance and intermarriage, and you may rediscover the mercies of the nuclear family.

From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2023

Over time, through intermarriage and social affiliations, a black nobility emerged in Durham, with few links to working people like Ann Atwater.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson