the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce); "a long and happy marriage"; "God bless this union"
the ceremony or sacrament of marriage
Often conducted as a religious and social ritual, the official joining of a man and woman as husband and wife or of two individuals as a couple.
Sacrament blessing and sanctifying Christian marriage. METROPOLITAN - Head Archbishop of an ecclesiastical province.
The legal state of being married. Clerics refer to the "holy" estate of matrimony.
The Roman, Orthodox and Old Catholic churches consider matrimony a sacrament and refer to it as the Sacrament of Matrimony. This is a marriage contract between baptized persons.
The legal state of being married. Ecclesiastics talk of the "holy" state of matrimony.