marriage

plural marriages · alternative obsolete mariage

1. countableuncountableThe state of being married.First known use 14th c.

   You should enter marriage for love.

   Synonyms: wedlock

2. countableuncountableA union of two or more people that creates a family tie and carries legal, social, or religious rights and responsibilities.First known use 14th c.

   The account of the loss of the blessing of his father Isaac appears immediately after Esau's marriage to his Hittite wives.

   1995, Edith Deen, All of the women of the Bible, page 275

   4 more examples

   By his marriage to his two wives, Tapuwae quietly strengthened all of the pas of the Wairoa district, as many of them came under his control through these unions.

   1944, Tiaki Hikawera Mitira, Takitimu, page 123

   One layman in Buddha's time decided to embrace celibacy and relinquished his marriage vows to his four wives. When he asked them what they wanted in terms of a settlement, one said, […]

   1990, John Stevens, Lust for enlightenment: Buddhism and sex

   In an open marriage, the partners are free to have extramarital relationships or sex without betraying one another. Such a marriage is based on communication, trust, and respect, […]

   2009, Charles Zastrow, Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: Empowering People, →ISBN, page 30

   Now can we eat? Marriages are arranged for whatever purpose is suitable. All this talk of undying love and childbearing squirms in my stomach like a worm that demands feeding.

   2013, David Gilman, Master of War

   Synonyms: alliance

   1. countablesometimesspecificallyuncountableThe union of only two people, to the exclusion of all others.

      My grandparents' marriage lasted for forty years.

      2 more examples

      Pat and Leslie's marriage to each other lasted forty years.

      "I have a patient right now whose marriage proved to be a tragedy. She wanted love, sexual gratification, children, and social prestige; but life blasted all her hopes. Her husband didn't love her. He refused even to eat with her, and forced her to serve his meals in his room upstairs. She had no children, no social standing. She went insane; and, in her imagination, she divorced her husband and resumed her maiden name. She now believes she has married into the English aristocracy, and she insists on being called Lady Smith.

      1936, Dale Carnegie, “Part 1, Chapter 2. THE BIG SECRET OF DEALING WITH PEOPLE”, in How to Win Friends and Influence People, page 42

      Synonyms: alliance

   2. countableoftenspecificallyuncountableThe union of two people of opposite sex, to the exclusion of all others.

      Synonyms: alliance

3. countableuncountableA wedding; a ceremony in which people wed.First known use 14th c.

   You are cordially invited to the marriage of James Smith and Jane Doe.

4. countablefigurativelyuncountableA close union.First known use 15th c.

   But the food is real: a marriage of local ingredients and serious technique.

   2006 August 9, Amy Scattergood, A wild dream in the wild, published in the Los Angeles Times, republished in 2009 in The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook: A Year in the Life of a Restaurant (by Michelle and Phillip Wojtowicz and Michael Gilson with Catherine Price), on the cover

   3 more examples

   And this marriage of poetry and history remained a solid relationship throughout the classical period.

   2000, Edmund E. Jacobitti, “The Classical Heritage in Machiavelli's Histories”, in Vickie B. Sullivan, editor, The comedy and tragedy of Machiavelli: essays on the literary works, page 181

   Above all, we will no longer have to feel qualms about the marriage of art and money. We will no longer have to wonder if it is possible to separate the esthetic value of an art work from its commercial value.

   2003, Paul Mattick, Art in its time: theories and practices of modern aesthetics, page 105

   That bitter rivalry -- between Thaksin's supporters, known as the Red Shirts, and the royalist elites, known as the Yellow Shirts -- has been a hallmark of politics for the past 20 years, with deadly street protests a common occurrence. Friday's announcement signals a surprise marriage between the two sides, with Ubolratana having the power to break that cycle.

   2019 February 8, Kocha Olarn, Helen Regan, “This princess could be the next prime minister of Thailand”, in CNN International Edition, Cable News Network, retrieved 08 Feb 2019

5. countablefigurativelyuncountableA joining of two parts.
6. countableuncountablecard gamesA king and a queen, when held as a hand in some versions of poker or melded in pinochle.
7. countableuncountablecard gamesIn solitaire or patience games, the placing a card of the same suit on the next one above or below it in value.
8. countableslanguncountableA homosexual relationship between male prisoners.

plural Marriages

1. A surname