DictionaryAI

marry

MAIR-ee/ˈmɛɹ.i/UKMA-ree/ˈmæɹ.i/

Formsmarries, marrying, married

6 meanings of marry

Practice

  1. 1
    verbintransitive
    To become someone's husband or wife; to take someone as a spouse, or to get married.

    Many couples now choose to marry later in life.

    He married at thirty, after years on his own.

    UsageTakes the partner directly: she married him (not incorrect: married with him). Or say get married to someone.

    Similarwed

    Oppositedivorce

    Note

    Used this way it needs no object: one simply marries, as when John Evelyn's Diary, under 1641, records a widow at Haerlem "prohibited to marry in future."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • John Evelyn's Diary records, under 1641, a widow at Haerlem who was prohibited to marry in future. gutenberg.org
  2. 2
    verbfigurativelytransitive
    To join or combine two different things closely or so that they fit well together.

    The architect wanted to marry function with beauty.

    Her writing marries sharp humor and deep insight.

    UsageEither marry one thing with another or marry both together: marries humor and insight.

    Similarcombine, unite, blend, join, fuse

    Oppositeseparate, divide

    Note

    The figure is old. The King James Bible of 1611 has the Lord say to "backsliding children," "I am married unto you," and Lisa C. Hickman writes that Faulkner's late years "marry professional triumphs and personal disappointments."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
    • The King James Bible attributes 'I am married unto you' to the Lord, addressing 'backsliding children'; this documents the old figurative use. en.wikisource.org
    • Lisa C. Hickman uses the quoted phrase about Faulkner's later years. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    perform weddingverbtransitive
    To unite two people in matrimony by performing the wedding ceremony.

    Only a licensed officiant can marry a couple in this state.

    The ship's captain married the two passengers at sea.

    UsageThe subject is the person who leads the ceremony: a judge married them, and they got married.

    Similarwed

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    arrange a matchverbtransitive
    To arrange the marriage of someone, especially a son or daughter, to another person.

    The king sought to marry his daughter to a neighboring prince.

    She married her children into several respectable houses.

    UsageThe partner follows to: marry a daughter to a prince. Also marry off a son or daughter.

    Similarwed

    Note

    Here the subject is neither bride nor groom but the parent who settles the match. William Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 has a king who "maryed his sonne," and the pattern is the same today: the partner follows to, as in marry a daughter to a nobleman.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • William Tyndale's New Testament was first published in 1526. collections.museumofthebible.org
    • Tyndale's Matthew 22:2 describes a king who "maryed his sonne," with the king as the parent arranging the marriage. biblehub.com
  2. 5
    interjectionobsolete
    Used to affirm a statement emphatically, meaning indeed or in truth.
    I have chequed him for it, and the young lion repents; marry, not in ashes and sackcloth, but in new silk and old sack.
    c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth,. Epilogue.”
    I know too much: / I finde it, I; for when I ha liſt to ſleepe, / Mary, before your Ladiſhip I grant, / She puts her tongue alittle in her heart, / And chides with thinking.
    c. 1603, William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello
    Note

    This is a different word from the verb: a softened oath on the name of the Virgin Mary, from Middle English Marie in the mid-14th century. Hugh Latimer used it in 1549, and Shakespeare's speakers use it to underline a reply, as in "marry, not in ashes and sackcloth" in Henry IV, Part 2. The 1622 quarto of Othello spells it Mary, which shows its origin plainly. Today it belongs only to imitations of older English.

  3. 6
    verb
    In sailing, to join two ropes, either by laying them side by side so they can be hauled on together or by uniting their ends into one line.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–4

This comes from Middle English "marien," from Anglo-Norman "marïer," from Latin "maritare" ("to wed"), based on "maritus" ("husband, suitor") and perhaps ultimately "mas" ("man, male"), whose deeper origin is uncertain. It possibly traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "young man," and it replaced the native Old English "hiwian."

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

Meaning 5

Dating from the mid-1300s, this word is a Middle English use of Marie, the name of the Virgin Mary.