marriage

American  

[mar-ij] / ˈmær ɪdʒ /

noun

• marriages
  plural

1. (broadly) any of the diverse forms of interpersonal union established in various parts of the world to form a familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities and including, for example, opposite-sex marriage, same-sex marriage, plural marriage, and arranged marriage:

   Anthropologists say that some type of marriage has been found in every known human society since ancient times.

2. 1. Also called opposite-sex marriage.  the form of this institution under which a man and a woman have established their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.

   2. this institution expanded to include two partners of the same gender, as in

3. the state, condition, or relationship of being married; wedlock.

   They have a happy marriage.

   Synonyms:

   matrimony

   Antonyms:

   singleness, spinsterhood, bachelorhood

4. the legal or religious ceremony that formalizes the decision of two people to live as a married couple, including the accompanying social festivities.

   to officiate at a marriage.

   Synonyms:

   wedding

   Antonyms:

   annulment, divorce

5. a relationship in which two people have pledged themselves to each other in the manner of a husband and wife, without legal sanction.

   trial marriage.

6. any close or intimate association or union.

   the marriage of words and music in a hit song.

   Synonyms:

   confederation, alliance, oneness, unity, merger, blend

   Antonyms:

   schism, disunion, division, separation

7. a formal agreement between two companies or enterprises to combine operations, resources, etc., for mutual benefit; merger.

8. a blending or matching of different elements or components.

   The new lipstick is a beautiful marriage of fragrance and texture.

9. Cards. a meld of the king and queen of a suit, as in pinochle.

10. a piece of antique furniture assembled from components of two or more authentic pieces.

11. Obsolete. the formal declaration or contract by which act a man and a woman join in wedlock.

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marriage British  

/ ˈmærɪdʒ /

noun

1. the state or relationship of living together in a legal partnership

2. 1. the legal union or contract made by two people to live together

   2. ( as modifier )

      marriage licence

      marriage certificate

3. the religious or legal ceremony formalizing this union; wedding

4. a close or intimate union, relationship, etc

   a marriage of ideas

5. (in certain card games, such as bezique, pinochle) the king and queen of the same suit

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Synonym Usage

Marriage, wedding, nuptials are terms for the ceremony uniting couples in wedlock. Marriage is the simple and usual term, without implications as to circumstances and without emotional connotations: to announce the marriage of a daughter. Wedding has rather strong emotional, even sentimental, connotations, and suggests the accompanying festivities, whether elaborate or simple: a beautiful wedding; a reception after the wedding. Nuptials is a formal and lofty word applied to the ceremony and attendant social events; it does not have emotional connotations but strongly implies surroundings characteristic of wealth, rank, pomp, and grandeur: royal nuptials. It appears frequently on newspaper society pages chiefly as a result of the attempt to avoid continual repetition of marriage and wedding.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonmarriage
  noun
• postmarriage
  noun
• premarriage
  noun
• remarriage
  noun
• promarriage
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• marriages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of marriage

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English mariage, from Old French, equivalent to mari(er) “to wed” + -age noun suffix; see origin at marry ¹ , -age

Explanation

Marriage is when two people join together through a legal contract, a religious ceremony, or both. In some cultures, marriage is arranged by families, and in others people choose their own husbands or wives if they decide to marry. There are some places where marriage is limited to unions between a man and a woman, while more and more states and countries recognize marriage between same-sex couples too. You can also use the noun marriage to talk about a more figurative link between two things: “The song was a strange marriage of Bavarian polka and punk rock.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

marriage marriages

It helped that “from day one in our marriage, we were saving and investing,” she added, “so when we did buy, we had money for the house, and emergency savings.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

Two implacable U.S. foes have locked into an unlikely marriage of convenience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

But as political analyst Mona Charen noted, “his children are the product of a marriage between himself and the daughter of recent immigrants. Her ancestors are buried in India. Is that their ‘homeland’?

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

I legitimately think it’s a big reason our marriage has been so successful.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

After my marriage my sister Katie still kept up the séances.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

In their last conversation, he suggested emigrating to Hawaii where he believed mixed-race marriages were more acceptable.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Within the first hour, it had booked five marriages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Jamie McDonald, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the defendants and unidentified co-conspirators orchestrated more than 1,000 sham marriages over the past decade.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

The mass weddings have continued under subsequent governors, with numbers expanding each year as demand has grown and included those in polygamous Muslim marriages.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Considering the design of this new system of control, it is astonishing that so many people labeled criminals still manage to care for and feed their children, hold together marriages, obtain employment, and start businesses.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• merger
• wedding