|
  • Search Results
  • Advanced Search
  • List Builder
  • Random Word

marriage

Marriage is the legally recognized union of a man and woman. After marriage, the couple becomes husband and wife.

Ambrose Bierce, the famous 19th-century American wit, defined love as being "a temporary insanity curable by marriage." Even if that is a little caustic, well over half of American weddings end in divorce, the legally recognized dissolving of the union between a man and a woman. Gay men and women have recently begun demanding the right to marry as well, resulting in the common phrase "same-sex marriage."

DEFINITIONS OF: marriage

1

n the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)

“a long and happy marriage”
Synonyms:
matrimony, spousal relationship, union, wedlock
Types:
show 17 types...
hide 17 types...
bigamy
having two spouses at the same time
common-law marriage
a marriage relationship created by agreement and cohabitation rather than by ceremony
endogamy, inmarriage, intermarriage
marriage within one's own tribe or group as required by custom or law
exogamy, intermarriage
marriage to a person belonging to a tribe or group other than your own as required by custom or law
marriage of convenience
a marriage for expediency rather than love
misalliance
an unsuitable alliance (especially with regard to marriage)
monandry
the state of having only one husband at a time
monogamousness, monogamy
having only one spouse at a time
open marriage
a marriage in which each partner is free to enter into extraneous sexual relationships without guilt or jealousy from the other
cuckoldom
the state of a husband whose wife has committed adultery
polygamy
having more than one spouse at a time
sigeh
a Shiite tradition of temporary marriage permitted in Iran that allows a couple to specify the terms of their relationship; can last from a few minutes to 99 years
mesalliance
a marriage with a person of inferior social status
monogyny
having only one wife at a time
serial monogamy
a succession of short monogamous relationships (as by someone who undergoes multiple divorces)
polyandry
having more than one husband at a time
polygyny
having more than one wife at a time
Type of:
marital status
the condition of being married or unmarried

n a close and intimate union

“the marriage of music and dance”
“a marriage of ideas”
Type of:
unification, union
the state of being joined or united or linked

n the act of marrying; the nuptial ceremony

“their marriage was conducted in the chapel”
Synonyms:
marriage ceremony, wedding
Types:
show 4 types...
hide 4 types...
bridal, espousal
archaic terms for a wedding or wedding feast
civil marriage
a marriage performed by a government official rather than by a clergyman
love match
a marriage for love's sake; not an arranged marriage
remarriage
the act of marrying again
Type of:
rite, ritual
any customary observance or practice

n two people who are married to each other

“his second marriage was happier than the first”
Synonyms:
man and wife, married couple
Types:
mixed marriage
marriage of two people from different races or different religions or different cultures
Type of:
family, family unit
primary social group; parents and children
Launch
WORD FAMILY
USAGE EXAMPLES