common-law marriage
noun
a marriage without a civil or ecclesiastical ceremony, generally resulting from an agreement to marry followed by the couple's living together.
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Origin of common-law marriage
First recorded in 1905–10
Words nearby common-law marriage
common hepatic duct, commonhold, common iliac vein, common knowledge, common law, common-law marriage, common logarithm, commonly, common mallow, Common Market, common measure
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Cultural definitions for common-law marriage
common-law marriage
A legal marriage brought about by the cohabitation of a man and a woman, or by their agreement to consider themselves married, rather than by a wedding. (See common law.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.