marital
American-
of or relating to marriage; conjugal; matrimonial.
marital vows; marital discord.
-
Archaic. of or relating to a husband.
adjective
-
of or relating to marriage
marital status
-
of or relating to a husband
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of marital
1595–1605; < Latin marītālis of married people, derivative of marītus of marriage. See marry 1, -al 1
Explanation
Use the adjective marital to describe something that relates to a marriage. You may envy the marital contentment of spouses who communicate well with each other. When you pronounce marital, put the accent on the first syllable and use the short i sound: "MAR i tul." Now you're ready to ask people, "What is your marital status?" They'll answer that they're single or married, or possibly engaged, widowed, divorced, or living as unmarried partners. Marital comes from Latin: maritalis, meaning "of or belonging to married people," and maritus, meaning "husband."
Vocabulary lists containing marital
100 SAT Words Beginning with "M"
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Vocabulary for the Naturalization Interview
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Laura Overdeck argues their marital assets should include her husband’s stake in the hedge-fund firm, which she says is worth $6.2 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
Inheritance is separate property, but it may become marital property if it is commingled.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
The reaction of the Hampden crowd at the end told you that the first marital row has now occurred.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
They then compared those habits with three measures of relationship health: communication, conflict resolution and marital stress.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
Rachel fiercely putting in overtime, foreshadowing a marital track record distinguished for quantity if not quality.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
