# marriage

Pronunciation: US say "MAIR-ij" /ˈmɛɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/; UK say "MA-rij" /ˈmæɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/

## Noun

1. The legally or formally recognized union of two people (in some cultures more) as partners, with legal, social, and often religious rights and duties; historically often limited to a man and a woman.
   - Simple: An official or accepted relationship joining two people, or in some cultures more, as husband and wife or as partners.
   - _A recognized marriage grants both partners shared rights to property and inheritance._
   - _In many societies, marriage links two families rather than just two individuals._
2. The condition or status of being married to another person.
   - Simple: The condition of being someone's husband or wife.
   - _Their marriage lasted more than fifty years._
   - _She entered marriage with clear expectations about partnership._
3. The ceremony in which two people are formally wed.
   - Simple: A ceremony where two people officially become a married couple.
   - _The marriage was conducted by a priest before the whole congregation._
   - _Hundreds of relatives attended their marriage at the family estate._
4. A close union, combination, or blending of two different things.
   - Simple: A good mix or joining of two different things.
   - _The novel is a marriage of historical fact and pure invention._
   - _Their startup represents a marriage of art and technology._
5. A romantic or sexual partnership formed between two male prisoners. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Among male prisoners, a romantic or sexual relationship between two inmates.
   - _Their marriage on the cell block gave both men some protection._
   - _He admitted that his prison marriage to a cellmate ended when he was paroled._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A king and queen held together as a hand in certain poker variants, or a king and queen of the same suit melded in pinochle.
- (noun) In solitaire and patience games, the act of placing a card on an adjacent-value card of the same suit.

## Origin

Latin marītus ("lover," "nuptial"), perhaps from mas ("male"), gave the verb marītō ("to marry," literally "give in marriage"). From this came Old French marier ("to marry") and the noun mariage, which passed into Middle English as mariage. In English terms it is equivalent to marry plus -age.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/marriage (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).