Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
marriage (noun)1.
a) (1) the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law
(2) the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage - same-sex marriage
b) the mutual of persons - relation married wedlock
c) the whereby individuals are joined in a marriage - institution
2.
an act of or the rite by which the married status is - marrying effected , especially the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities
3.
an intimate or close union - the marriage of painting and poetry J. T. Shawcross
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
marriage (noun)1.
a union representing a special kind of social and legal partnership between two people
SYNONIMS:
conjugality, connubiality, match, matrimony, wedlockRELATED WORDS:
monogamy; bigamy, polyandry, polygamy, polygyny; intermarriage, miscegenation, mixed marriage, remarriage; cohabitation, common-law marriage; civil union, domestic partnership; attachment, commitment, relationship; betrothal, engagement, espousal, hand, pledge, promise, proposal, trothNEAR ANTONYMS:
annulment, divorce, separation2.
a ceremony in which two people are united in matrimony
SYNONIMS:
bridal, espousal, marriage, nuptial(s)RELATED WORDS:
match, matrimony, wedlock; union