marriages

Noun

marriage (countable and uncountable, plural marriages)

1. The state of being married.
   • You should enter marriage for love.

   Synonyms:

   wedlock

2. A union of two or more people that creates a family tie and carries legal, social, or religious rights and responsibilities.
   • 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

   Synonyms:

   alliance

   1. (sometimes, specifically) The union of only two people, to the exclusion of all others.
      • My grandparents' marriage lasted for forty years.
   2. (often, specifically) The union of two people of opposite sex, to the exclusion of all others.
3. A wedding; a ceremony in which people wed.
   • You are cordially invited to the marriage of James Smith and Jane Doe.
4. (figuratively) A close union.
   • 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

See all 11 meanings of marriage