Meanings
nouncivil union (plural civil unions)
plural civil unions
- A legal union similar to marriage, established to allow same-sex couples (and, in some jurisdictions, opposite-sex couples) rights similar to those married couples have.
Synonyms: domestic partnership, registered partnership, registered relationship, significant relationship
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA legal union similar to marriage, established to allow same-sex couples (and, in some jurisdictions, opposite-sex couples) rights similar to those married couples have.
Similar
Also see
Translations
Afrikaans burgerlike verbintenis
- burgerlike verbintenislegal union similar to marriage
Basque batasun zibil, izatezko bikote
- batasun zibillegal union similar to marriage
- izatezko bikotelegal union similar to marriage
Bulgarian граждански съюз
- граждански съюз (graždanski săjuz)legal union similar to marriage
Catalan unió estable de parella, unió civil
- unió estable de parellalegal union similar to marriage
- unió civillegal union similar to marriage
Chinese Mandarin 民事結合 /民事结合, 公民結合 /公民结合
- 民事結合 /民事结合 (mínshì jiéhé)legal union similar to marriage
- 公民結合 /公民结合 (gōngmín jiéhé)legal union similar to marriage
Czech registrované partnerství
- registrované partnerstvílegal union similar to marriage
Dutch geregistreerd partnerschap
- geregistreerd partnerschaplegal union similar to marriage
Esperanto registrita partnereco
- registrita partnerecolegal union similar to marriage
Finnish siviiliavioliitto, rekisteröity parisuhde
- siviiliavioliittolegal union similar to marriage
- rekisteröity parisuhdelegal union similar to marriage
French union civile, pacte civil de solidarité
- union civilelegal union similar to marriage
- pacte civil de solidaritélegal union similar to marriage
- partenariat enregistrélegal union similar to marriage
German eingetragene Partnerschaft
- eingetragene Partnerschaftlegal union similar to marriage
Hawaiian uniona kīwila
- uniona kīwilalegal union similar to marriage
Indonesian persatuan sipil
- persatuan sipillegal union similar to marriage
Irish cumann sibhialta
- cumann sibhialtalegal union similar to marriage
Italian unione civile
- unione civilelegal union similar to marriage
Japanese 市民の結合
- 市民の結合 (shimin no ketsugō)legal union similar to marriage
Norwegian registrert partnerskap
- registrert partnerskaplegal union similar to marriage
Polish (formalny / rejestrowany) związek partnerski
- (formalny / rejestrowany) związek partnerskilegal union similar to marriage
Portuguese união civil, união de facto
- união civillegal union similar to marriage
- união de factolegal union similar to marriage
- união estávellegal union similar to marriage
Russian гражда́нский брак, гражданское партнёрство
- гражда́нский брак (graždánskij brak)legal union similar to marriage
- гражданское партнёрство (graždanskoje partnjórstvo)legal union similar to marriage
Slovak registrované partnerstvo
- registrované partnerstvolegal union similar to marriage
Spanish unión civil, unión de hecho
- unión civillegal union similar to marriage
- unión de hecholegal union similar to marriage
- pareja de hecholegal union similar to marriage
Swedish registrerat partnerskap
- registrerat partnerskaplegal union similar to marriage
Turkish medeni birliktelik
- medeni birlikteliklegal union similar to marriage
Ukrainian цивільне партнерство
- цивільне партнерство (cyvilʹne partnerstvo)legal union similar to marriage
Vietnamese kết hợp dân sự
- kết hợp dân sựlegal union similar to marriage
Welsh uniad sifil
- uniad sifillegal union similar to marriage
Cite this entry
APA
civil union. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20union
MLA
“civil union.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20union. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “civil union,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20union.
Source: civil union on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.