English Explanatory Dictionary

marriage

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The state of being married.
  2. A union of two or more people that creates a family tie and carries legal, social, or religious rights and responsibilities.
  3. The union of only two people, to the exclusion of all others.
  4. The union of two people of opposite sex, to the exclusion of all others.
  5. A wedding; a ceremony in which people wed.
  6. A close union.
  7. A joining of two parts.
  8. A king and a queen, when held as a hand in some versions of poker or melded in pinochle.
  9. In solitaire or patience games, the placing a card of the same suit on the next one above or below it in value.
  10. A homosexual relationship between male prisoners.
name
  1. A surname

Pronunciation

/ˈmæɹɪd͡ʒ/ En-uk-marriage.ogg LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-marriage.wav mărʹĭj /ˈmɛɹɪd͡ʒ/ en-us-marriage.ogg /ˈmaɾɪd͡ʒ/ /ˌmæˈredʒ/

Word forms

marriage marriages mariage

Etymology

From Middle English mariage, from Old French mariage, from marier (“to marry”), from Latin marītō (“marry”, verb, literally “give in marriage”), from marītus (“lover”, “nuptial”), from mas (“male, masculine, of the male sex”). Equivalent to marry + -age. Doublet of maritage. Displaced native Old English sinsċipe.

Synonyms

matrimony wedding civil union wedlock

Antonyms

divorce

Related words

marry adelphogamy bigamy cohabitation divorce group marriage matrimony monogamy one flesh polyandry polygamy polygyny wedding Mariage

Derived words

antimarriage arranged marriage ask for someone's hand in marriage banns of marriage bisexual marriage Boston marriage brokeback marriage celestial marriage celestial plural marriage ceremonial marriage child marriage circle marriage civil marriage common-law marriage commuter marriage companionate marriage complex marriage conjoint marriage consanguine marriage consummate marriage cross-cousin marriage customary marriage cybermarriage earthly marriage equal marriage eternal marriage extramarriage faggot marriage fag marriage Fleet marriage frank-marriage gay marriage ghost marriage group marriage heavenly marriage hedge marriage hetero marriage hetero-marriage heteromarriage homomarriage homosexual marriage informal marriage inmarriage intermarriage inter-marriage intra-marriage intramarriage jactitation of marriage Josephite marriage lavender marriage levirate marriage line marriage love marriage marriageability marriageable marriageableness marriageably marriage agency marriage agent marriage bed
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