common-law marriage

American  

noun

1. 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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common-law marriage Cultural  

1. 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.)

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Etymology

Origin of common-law marriage

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

But soon after, Ambar said, officers learned that the couple were in a registered common-law marriage and that he was her daughter’s stepfather.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2023

He married four times, always to dancers, and lived with a fifth in a common-law marriage.

From New York Times • Oct. 31, 2022

No, because the federal government does not recognize common-law marriage either.

From Slate • Jul. 27, 2022

If you like good food, civil unrest, high art, common-law marriage, beautiful architecture and endemic corruption: bienvenue!

From The Guardian • Jun. 30, 2017

In 1901 came the great New York statute abolishing the common-law marriage, which we have discussed above.

From Popular Law-making by Stimson, Frederic Jesup