civil marriage

American  

noun

1. a marriage performed by a government official, as distinguished from a member of the clergy.

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civil marriage British  

noun

1. law a marriage performed by some official other than a clergyman

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Etymology

Origin of civil marriage

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Of the 316 civil marriage ceremonies held in Jersey in 2024, 135 took place at the Register Office - 24 more than the year before.

From BBC

Albert, 62, and Paul, 71, had previously been in a civil marriage and while they had split up, they remained close and continued to live together.

From BBC

Her argument was that the king - known to his subjects as "Ingonyama", meaning Lion - would be committing the offence of "bigamy" without first "converting" his civil marriage to her into a traditional Zulu marriage.

From BBC

Under South African law, a civil marriage must either be dissolved or converted to a traditional union before a man can take any more wives.

From BBC

She also believed that a civil marriage would be valid only if it were held in a court.

From BBC