marriage

[mar-ij]

noun

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.

marriage

/ 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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of marriage¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of marriage¹

C13: from Old French; see _marry ¹ , _-age

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

At her husband’s funeral last month, she demonstrated preternatural poise addressing a stadium-sized crowd, extolling a traditional view of marriage in which he was the family’s spiritual leader while she maintained the home.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In this volume, we find acrimony aplenty during the move from one marriage to the next, yet Updike’s tenderness, a natural instinct for conciliation, always re-emerges.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Although we transformed the kitchen with imported tiles and a French range plucked from our shared Pinterest board, viewers had no idea we were foster parents struggling to keep our marriage intact.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As suspicions bedevil him—has he been duped into this marriage?

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This woman, it transpires, is fleeing an unhappy marriage; she invites herself onboard and persuades Jatgeir to run away with her.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• merger 
• wedding