Marriage: the definition
From Dictionary.com
mar-riage [mar-ij] noun 1. a.the social institution under which a man and woman establishtheir decision to live as husband and wife by legalcommitments, religious ceremonies, etc. Antonyms:separation. b.a similar institution involving partners of the same gender:gay marriage. Antonyms: separation. 2. the state, condition, or relationship of being married; wedlock: ahappy marriage. Synonyms: matrimony. Antonyms: single life,bachelorhood, spinsterhood, singleness; separation. 3. the legal or religious ceremony that formalizes the decision of twopeople to live as a married couple, including the accompanyingsocial festivities: to officiate at a marriage. Synonyms: nuptials,marriage ceremony, wedding. Antonyms: divorce, annulment. 4. a relationship in which two people have pledged themselves toeach other in the manner of a husband and wife, without legalsanction: trial marriage. 5. any close or intimate association or union: the marriage of wordsand music in a hit song. Synonyms: blend, merger, unity, oneness;alliance, confederation. Antonyms: separation, division, disunion,schism.
Origin: 1250–1300; Middle English mariage < Old French, equivalent to mari ( er) to marry1 + -age -age
Can be confused: ?marriage, wedding (see synonym note at thecurrent entry ).
Synonyms 3. Marriage, wedding, nuptials are terms for the ceremony uniting couplesin wedlock. Marriage is the simple and usual term, without implicationsas to circumstances and without emotional connotations: to announce themarriage of a daughter. Wedding has rather strong emotional, evensentimental, connotations, and suggests the accompanying festivities,whether elaborate or simple: a beautiful wedding; a reception after thewedding. Nuptials is a formal and lofty word applied to the ceremonyand attendant social events; it does not have emotional connotationsbut strongly implies surroundings characteristic of wealth, rank, pomp,and grandeur: royal nuptials. It appears frequently on newspaper societypages chiefly as a result of the attempt to avoid continual repetition of marriage and wedding.