Marriage, n.
Etymology: [OE. mariage, F. mariage. See Marry, v. t.]
1. The act of marrying, or the state of being married; legal union of a man and a woman for life, as husband and wife; wedlock; matrimony. Marriage is honorable in all. Heb. xiii. 4.
2. The marriage vow or contract. [Obs.] Chaucer.
3. A feast made on the occasion of a marriage. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son. Matt. xxii. 2.
4. Any intimate or close union. Marriage brokage. (a) The business of bringing about marriages. (b) The payment made or demanded for the procurement of a marriage. -- Marriage favors, knots of white ribbons, or bunches of white flowers, worn at weddings. -- Marriage settlement (Law), a settlement of property in view, and in consideration, of marriage.
1 more senses
Syn. -- Matrimony; wedlock; wedding; nuptials. -- Marriage, Matrimony, Wedlock. Marriage is properly the act which unites the two parties, and matrimony the state into which they enter. Marriage is, however, often used for the state as well as the act. Wedlock is the old Anglo-Saxon term for matrimony.
Shades of meaning
Matrimony denotes the state of those who are united in the relation of husband and wife; marriage denotes primarily the act of so uniting, but is extensively used for the state as well. Wedlock, a word of specific legal use, is the Saxon term for the state or relation denoted by matrimony. Wedding denotes the ceremony, with any attendant festivities, by which two persons are united as husband and wife, nuptials being the more formal and stately term to express the same idea.
Prepositions
Marriage of or between two persons; of one person to or with another; among the Greeks.