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Marriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found. Such a union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding.

People marry for many reasons, most often including one or more of the following: legal, social, emotional, economical, spiritual, and religious. These might include arranged marriages, family obligations, the legal establishment of a nuclear family unit, the legal protection of children and public declaration of love.[1][2]

Marriage practices are very diverse across cultures, may take many forms, and are often formalized by a wedding.[3] The act of marriage usually creates normative or legal obligations between the individuals involved. In some societies these obligations also extend to certain family members of the married persons. Almost all cultures that recognize marriage also recognize adultery as a violation of the terms of marriage.[4]





Confucius, [5]

Anthropologists have proposed several competing definitions of marriage so as to encompass the wide variety of marital practices observed across cultures.[6] In his book The History of Human Marriage (1921), Edvard Westermarck defined marriage as "a more or less durable connection between male and female lasting beyond the mere act of propagation till after the birth of the offspring."[7] In The Future of Marriage in Western Civilization (1936), he rejected his earlier definition, instead provisionally defining marriage as "a relation of one or more men to one or more women that is recognised by custom or law".[8]




Various definitions of marriage often include the concept of conjugal rights which may include mutual rights of companionship and support (consortium), co-habitation, joint property rights, and sexual relations. The concept of conjugal rights may be applied to "traditional" or non-traditional definitions of marriage. In June 2007, the California Department of Corrections announced it would allow same-sex conjugal visits. The policy was enacted to comply with a 2005 state law requiring state agencies to give the same rights to domestic partners that heterosexual couples receive.[13]

In the 21st century United States, it has become popular to describe marriages as either traditional or non-traditional. Traditional marriage has been conservatively described as being a life-long legal union between one man and one woman for the support of family and presumably offspring. Following the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, the marriage vows of many Christian denominations included "Till death do us part" as part of the marriage liturgy. With the advent of No-fault divorce in 1970, and the widespread acceptance of Birth control, the definition of traditional marriage has become less narrowly defined as a legal bond "between a man and a woman". The Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, of 1996 uses this definition. Non-traditional marriage assumes a conjugal relationship other than that assumed in the traditional definition, and most commonly refers to Same-sex marriage.


The modern English word "marriage" derives from Middle English mariage, which first appears in 1250–1300 C.E. This in turn is derived from Old French marier (to marry) and ultimately Latin marītāre (to marry) and marītus (of marriage).[14]




In English common law, a marriage was a voluntary contract by a man and a woman, in which by agreement they choose to become husband and wife.[19] Edvard Westermarck proposed that "the institution of marriage has probably developed out of a primeval habit".[20]



European marriages

For most of European history, marriage was more or less a business agreement between two families who arranged the marriages of their children. Romantic love, and even simple affection, were not considered essential.[22] Historically, the perceived necessity of marriage has been stressed.[23]

In Ancient Greece, no specific civil ceremony was required for the creation of a marriage - only mutual agreement and the fact that the couple must regard each other as husband and wife accordingly.[24] Men usually married when they were in their 20s or 30s [25] and expected their wives to be in their early teens. It has been suggested that these ages made sense for the Greek because men were generally done with military service by age 30, and marrying a young girl ensured her virginity.[26] Married Greek women had few rights in ancient Greek society and were expected to take care of the house and children.[27] Time was an important factor in Greek marriage. For example, there were superstitions that being married during a full moon was good luck and, according to Robert Flacelière, Greeks married in the winter.[26] Inheritance was more important than feelings: A woman whose father dies without male heirs can be forced to marry her nearest male relative—even if she has to divorce her husband first.[28]

There were several types of marriages in ancient Roman society. The traditional ("conventional") form called conventio in manum required a ceremony with witnesses and was also dissolved with a ceremony.[23] In this type of marriage, a woman lost her family rights of inheritance of her old family and gained them with her new one. She now was subject to the authority of her husband.[29] There was the free marriage known as sine manu. In this arrangement, the wife remained a member of her original family; she stayed under the authority of her father, kept her family rights of inheritance with her old family and did not gain any with the new family.[29] The minimum age of marriage for girls was 12.[30]

A woodcut of a medieval wedlock ceremony from Germany.


In the 12th century women were obligated to take the name of their husbands and starting in the second half of the 16th century parental consent along with the churches consent was required for marriage .[32]

With few local exceptions, until 1545, Christian marriages in Europe were by mutual consent, declaration of intention to marry and upon the subsequent physical union of the parties.[33][34] The couple would promise verbally to each other that they would be married to each other; the presence of a priest or witnesses was not required.[35] This promise was known as the "verbum." If freely given and made in the present tense (e.g., "I marry you"), it was unquestionably binding;[33] if made in the future tense ("I will marry you"), it would constitute a betrothal. One of the functions of churches from the Middle Ages was to register marriages, which was not obligatory. There was no state involvement in marriage and personal status, with these issues being adjudicated in ecclesiastical courts. During the Middle Ages marriages were arranged, sometimes as early as birth, and these early pledges to marry were often used to ensure treaties between different royal families, nobles, and heirs of fiefdoms. The church resisted these imposed unions, and increased the number of causes for nullification of these arrangements.[32] As Christianity spread during the roman period and the Middle Ages, the idea of free choice in selecting marriage partners increased and spread with it.[32]

The average age of marriage in the late 1200s into the 1500s was around 25 years of age.[36]




Recognition by the state


In England and Wales, Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act 1753 required a formal ceremony of marriage, thereby curtailing the practice of Fleet Marriage.[39] These were clandestine or irregular marriages performed at Fleet Prison, and at hundreds of other places. From the 1690s until the Marriage Act of 1753 as many as 300,000 clandestine marriages were performed at Fleet Prison alone.[40] The Act required a marriage ceremony to be officiated by an Anglican priest in the Anglican Church with two witnesses and registration. The Act did not apply to Jewish marriages or those of Quakers, whose marriages continued to be governed by their own customs.


Chinese marriage



Same-sex marriage

Various types of same-sex marriages have existed,[41] ranging from informal, unsanctioned relationships to highly ritualized unions.[42]

While it is a relatively new practice that same-sex couples are being granted the same form of legal marital recognition as commonly used by mixed-sex couples, recent publicity and debate over the past decade gives an impression that civil marriage for lesbian and gay couples is novel and untested. There is a long history of recorded same-sex unions around the world.[43] It is believed that same-sex unions were celebrated in Ancient Greece and Rome,[43] some regions of China, such as Fujian, and at certain times in ancient European history.[44] A law in the Theodosian Code (C. Th. 9.7.3) issued in 342 CE prohibited same-sex marriage in ancient Rome, but the exact intent of the law and its relation to social practice is unclear, as only a few examples of same-sex marriage in that culture exist.[45]

Selection of a partner








Marriage ceremony

Couple married in a Shinto ceremony in Takayama, Gifu prefecture.





Marriage is an institution which can join together people's lives in a variety of emotional and economic ways. In many Western cultures, marriage usually leads to the formation of a new household comprising the married couple, with the married couple living together in the same home, often sharing the same bed, but in some other cultures this is not the tradition.[47] Among the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, residency after marriage is matrilocal, with the husband moving into the household of his wife's mother.[48] Residency after marriage can also be patrilocal or avunculocal. Such marriages have also been increasingly common in modern Beijing. Guo Jianmei, director of the center for women's studies at Beijing University, told a Newsday correspondent, "Walking marriages reflect sweeping changes in Chinese society."[49] A similar arrangement in Saudi Arabia, called misyar marriage, also involves the husband and wife living separately but meeting regularly.[50]



Sex and procreation

Many of the world's major religions look with disfavor on sexual relations outside of marriage.[52] Many nonsecular states, mostly with Muslim majorities, sanction criminal penalties for sexual intercourse before marriage. Sexual relations by a married person with someone other than his/her spouse is known as adultery and is also frequently disapproved by the major world religions (some calling it a sin). Adultery is considered in many jurisdictions to be a crime and grounds for divorce.

On the other hand, marriage is not a prerequisite for having children. In the United States, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that in 1992, 30.1 percent of births were to unmarried women.[53][54] In 2006, that number had risen to 38.5 percent.[55] Children born outside of marriage, bastards and whoresons, were known as illegitimate and suffered legal disadvantages and social stigma. In recent years the legal relevance of illegitimacy has declined and social acceptance has increased, especially in western countries. In the United States, the highest judicial body ruled in the case Griswold v. Connecticut that procreation within marriage could be abridged by artificial insemination.


According to a study, married men and women, on average, have sex with their spouse 58 times a year, which means little more than once a week. There is however, a tendency that the older the spouses are, the less sex they have. According to the same study, it seems that people under 30 years old have sex about 111 times a year and about 15% of married couples have not had sex with their spouse in the last six months to one year. [57]

Maintaining the passion alive is however one of the most common issues that a married couple is confronted with. This is normally due to the fact that individuals become accustomed or even bored to their spouse or due to the demands of raising a family or establishing a career and the stress that arises from these. There are also cases in which the individuals just have a low sex drive and they gradually become asexual.

Couples whom have a low sex standard during marriage usually have sexual intercourse or any kind of sexual, romantic activity, one or two times a month. They think of sex as a chore and they only practice it when it has been previously scheduled. [58]

Marriage law


Common-law marriage

In some jurisdictions but not all, marriage relationships may be created by the operation of the law alone, as in common-law marriage, sometimes called "marriage by habit and repute (cohabitation)." A de facto common-law marriage without a license or ceremony is legally binding in some jurisdictions but has no legal consequence in others.[59]

Rights and obligations



  • Giving a husband/wife responsibility for a spouse's debts.
  • Establishing the second legal guardian of a parent's child.
  • Establishing a relationship between the families of the spouses.

These rights and obligations vary considerably between societies, and between groups within society.[60]

Marriage restrictions


The United States has had a history of marriage restriction laws. Many states enacted miscegenation laws which were first introduced in the late seventeenth century in the slave-holding colonies of Virginia (1691) and Maryland (1692) and lasted until 1967 (until it was overturned via Loving v. Virginia). Many of these states restricted several minorities from marrying whites. For example, Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma banned Blacks in particular. States such as Mississippi and Missouri banned Blacks and Asians. States such as North Carolina and South Carolina banned Blacks and Native Americans, and some states such as Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia banned all non-whites.

It is a relatively new practice that same-sex couples are being granted the same form of legal marital recognition available to mixed-sexed couples. In the United States, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) explicitly defines marriage for the purposes of federal law as between a man and a woman and allows states to ignore same-sex marriages from other states (though states arguably could do this already).[61][62] Forty-one US states currently define marriage as between a man and a woman. Three of those states have statutory language that pre-dates DOMA (enacted before 1996) defining marriage as such. Thirty states have defined marriage in their constitutions. Arizona is the only state that has ever defeated a constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman (2006), but it subsequently passed one in 2008.[63]

Societies have often placed restrictions on marriage to relatives, though the degree of prohibited relationship varies widely. With few exceptions, marriages between parents and children or between full siblings have been considered incest and forbidden. However, marriages between more distant relatives have been much more common, with one estimate being that 80% of all marriages in history have been between second cousins or closer.[64] In modern times this proportion has fallen dramatically, but still more than 10% of all marriages are believed to be between first and second cousins.[65] In the United States, such marriages are now highly stigmatized, and laws ban most or all first-cousin marriage in 30 states. Specifics vary: in South Korea, historically it was illegal to marry someone with the same last name.[66]

Many societies have required a person to marry within their own general social group, which anthropologists refer to as endogamy. An example of such restrictions would be a requirement to marry someone from the same tribe.

Restrictions against polygamy have been common. Opposition to the recognition of Deseret as a State by the Federal government was founded on opposition to the once-practiced polygamous marriages of Mormons.

State recognition


Marriage and religion


Bible-based faiths

In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)

Rembrandt's depiction of Samson's marriage feast

The Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) describes a number of marriages, including those of Isaac,[Gen 24:49-67] Jacob,[Gen 29:27] and Samson.[Judg 14:7-12] In those times the most common marital arrangement, of those that are mentioned at all, is for men to have multiple wives at once.[67]

Betrothal (erusin), which is merely a binding promise to get married, is distinct from marriage itself (nissu'in), with the time between these events varying substantially.[67][68] Since a wife was regarded as property in those days, the betrothal (erusin) was effected simply by purchasing her from her father (or guardian)[67][68]; the girl’s consent is not explicitly required by any biblical law.[68] Like the adjacent Arabic culture (in the pre-Islamic period),[69] the act of marriage appears mainly to have consisted of the groom fetching the bride, although among the Israelites (unlike the Arabs) the procession was a festive occasion, accompanied by music, dancing, and lights.[68][67] To celebrate the marriage, week-long feasts were sometimes held.[67][68]

In biblical times, a wife was regarded as chattel, belonging to her husband[68][67]; the descriptions of the bible suggest that she would be expected to perform tasks such as spinning, sewing, weaving, manufacture of clothing, fetching of water, baking of bread, and animal husbandry.[70] However, wives were usually looked after with care, and bigamous men were expected to ensure that they give their first wife food, clothing, and sexual activity.[Ex 21:10]

Since a wife was regarded as property, her husband was originally free to divorce her for any reason, at any time.[68] A divorced couple were permitted to get back together, unless the wife had married someone else after her divorce.[Deut 24:2-4]


Christian wedding in Kyoto, Japan.

Christians believe that marriage is a gift from God, one that should not be taken for granted. They variously regard it as a sacrament, a contract, a sacred institution, or a covenant.[71] From the very beginning of the Christian Church, marriage law and theology have been a major matter.[72] The foundation of the Western tradition of Christian marriages have been the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul.[37]

Christians often marry for religious reasons ranging from following the biblical injunction for a "man to leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one,"[Gen. 2:24][73] to obeying Canon Law stating marriage between baptized persons is a sacrament.[74]

Divorce is not encouraged. Most Protestant churches allow people to marry again after a divorce. In the Roman Catholic Church, marriage can only be ended by an annulment where the Church for special reasons regards it as never having taken place.[75]


Jesus[Matthew 19:6]

Liturgical Christianity


Roman Catholicism




According to current Catholic legislation governing marriage, "The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility; in Christian marriage they acquire a distinctive firmness by reason of the sacrament.[79] Divorce is not recognized, but annulments predicated upon previously existing impediments may be granted. Offspring resulting from annulled relationships are considered legitimate. The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion.[80]


Protestant denominations see the primary purpose of marriage to be to glorify[81] God by demonstrating his love to the world.[citation needed] Other purposes of marriage include intimate companionship, rearing children and mutual support for both husband and wife to fulfill their life callings. Protestants generally approve of birth control[citation needed] and consider marital sexual pleasure to be a gift of God.


Historically, five competing models of marriage in Christianity have shaped Western marriage and legal tradition:

  • The Protestant Reformationists replaced the Roman Catholic sacramental model.
  • Martin Luther saw it as a social "estate of the earthly kingdom…subject to the prince, not the Pope."
  • Anglicans regarded marriage as a domestic commonwealth within England and the church. By the seventeenth century, Anglican theologians had begun to develop a theology of marriage to replace the sacramental model of marriage. These "regarded the interlocking commonwealths of state, church, and family as something of an earthly form of heavenly government."

John Witte, Professor of Law and director of the Law and Religion Program at Emory University, warns that contemporary liberal attitudes toward marriage ultimately will produce a family that is "haphazardly bound together in the common pursuit of selfish ends."[37]

Latter-day Saints
A couple following their marriage in the Manti Utah Temple.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) believe that "marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children." The LDS belief is that marriage between a man and a woman can last beyond death and into eternity.[82]


A Jewish wedding, painting by Jozef Israëls, 1903.





In Islam, polygamy is allowed for men, with the specific limitation that they can only have up to four wives at any one time, given the religious requirement that they are able to and willing to partition their time and wealth equally among the respective wives.

For a Muslim wedding to take place, the bride and her guardian must both agree on the marriage. Should either the guardian or the girl disagree on the marriage, it may not legally take place. In essence, while the guardian/father of the girl has no right to force her to marry, he has the right to stop a marriage from taking place, given that his reasons are valid. The professed purpose of this practice is to ensure that a woman finds a suitable partner whom she has chosen not out of sheer emotion.


In Shia Islam marriage must take place in the presence of at least two reliable witnesses, with the consent of the guardian of the bride and the consent of both spouses (including the girl). Following the marriage, the couple is immediately allowed to consummate the marriage. To create a religious contract between them, it is sufficient that a man and a woman indicate an intention to marry each other and recite the requisite words in front of a Muslim priest The wedding party can be held days, or months later, whenever the couple and their families want to announce the marriage in public.[84][85][86][87]

In Sunni Islam, marriage must take place in the presence of witnesses, with the consent of the bride and the consent of both spouses (including the girl). Following the marriage they may consummate their marriage.




Hindu marriage ceremony from a Rajput wedding.



In a Sikh marriage, the couple make rounds around the holy book called Guru Granth Sahib four times and the holy man speaks some words from the Guru Granth Sahib in the form of kirtan. The ceremony is known as 'Anand Karaj' and represents the holy union of between two souls that are united as one.

Same-sex marriage

A same-sex couple exchanging wedding vows in an Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

For the most part, religious traditions in the world reserve marriage to heterosexual unions, but there are exceptions including Unitarian Universalist, Metropolitan Community Church, Quaker, United Church of Canada, United Church of Christ and Reform Jewish congregations, and some Anglican dioceses.[90][91] This model is currently recognized by various jurisdictions[92] and religious denominations.[93][94][95]

Financial considerations





A dowry was not an unconditional gift,[in Early Modern Britain?] but was usually a part of a wider marriage settlement. For example, if the groom had other children, they could not inherit the dowry, which had to go to the bride's children. In the event of her childlessness, the dowry had to be returned to her family, but sometimes not until the groom's death or remarriage.

In some cultures, dowries continue to be required today (for example, in Sudan), while some countries impose restrictions on the payment of dowry. In India, nearly 7,000 women are killed annually in disputes over dowries,[96] and activists believe that figures represent only a third of the actual number of such murders.[97]

Bride price and dower

In other cultures, the groom or his family were expected to pay a bride price to the bride's family for the right to marry the daughter, or dower, which was payable to the bride. This required the groom to work for the bride's family for a set period of time.




Modern customs



Some have attempted to analyze the institution of marriage using economic theory; for example, anarcho-capitalist economist David D. Friedman has written a lengthy and controversial study of marriage as a market transaction (the market for husbands and wives).[99] As the economic status of woman was enhanced through marrige in the past, nowadays, as more wives work, more man than woman gain economicly. [100]





Other considerations






The absolute right of two married partners to consent to divorce was only recognized in western nations in recent decades. In the United States no-fault divorce was first recognized in California in 1969 and the final state to recognize it was New York in 1989 [2].


Societal considerations

President of the Institute for American Values David Blankenhorn claims that children who grow up in homes where parents are married to one another are less likely to be impoverished, to have emotional or behavioral problems, to engage in premature sexual relations, to use drugs, or to commit suicide.[103]

Post-marital residence


In modern societies we observe a trend toward the neolocal residence.[106]

Contemporary views on marriage


Many people have proposed arguments against marriage for various reasons. These include political and religious criticisms, reference to the divorce rate, as well as celibacy for religious or philosophical reasons.

Controversial views

Many controversies have arisen over the centuries in relation to marriage - including issues relating to the suitability of partners of different denominations, faiths, tribes or races, the acceptable number and minimum age of wives, the rights of partners, especially wives, and wider family obligations. For example, a contemporary controversy of particular significance in the USA concerns the exclusion of homosexual relationships from legal and social recognition and the rights and obligations it provides. Social conservatives opposed to same-sex marriage in some countries claim that any attempt to define marriage to include anything other than the union of one man and one woman would "deprive the term of its fundamental and defining meaning."[107] In other countries, polygamy is a "socially conservative" practice.[citation needed] Advocates of same-faith marriage and same-race marriage may criticize the legalization of interfaith marriage[108] and interracial marriage,[109] respectively.

Currently 37 U.S. states have passed laws which define marriage as limited to a union between one man and one woman: 33 state legislatures have passed statutes to that effect, and 4 states (Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska and Nevada) have, by popular vote, passed Defense of Marriage Acts (DOMAs) as constitutional amendments; the Ohio state legislature is currently debating a Defense of Marriage Act. Thirteen states, therefore, do not currently have laws on their books which limit marriage to a union between one man and one woman.[110]

The state of Massachusetts has sued the U.S. federal government over its definition of marriage. The lawsuit, brought by the first state to legalize gay marriage, said the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) infringed on a state's sovereign right to define marital status. The lawsuit alleges that DOMA infringed on a state's sovereign right to define marital status and is unconstitutional.[111]

See also

Views of marriage

Types of marriages

Events and situations related to marriage

Legal issues and implications of marriage

  • Adultery - Sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse.
  • Alimony - obligation of support.
  • Annulment - legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void.
  • Bride Price - The amount of money or property or wealth paid by the groom or his family to the parents of a woman upon the marriage of their daughter to the groom
  • Dowry - the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage
  • Head and Master laws
  • Inheritance
  • Marriage law

Other Related concepts


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