Marriage

Marriage, also known as matrimony or wedlock, is a union between individuals called spouses that is typically recognized by culture and often by law. This union creates specific rights and duties between the spouses, as well as between them and any children they may have, and between them and their in-laws. While marriage is found in nearly every culture, its exact definition shifts across different societies, religions, and historical periods. It is generally an institution where interpersonal relationships, frequently sexual in nature, are acknowledged or given approval. In some cultures, marriage is encouraged or even seen as necessary before engaging in sexual activity, and sex with someone other than one's spouse can be considered immoral or, in certain places, illegal. The ceremony that marks a marriage is called a wedding, while a private marriage is sometimes referred to as an elopement.

The form marriage takes depends heavily on the cultural and religious values of those involved, as well as the expectations of their society. A marriage may be recognized by a state, an organization, a religious body, a tribal group, a local community, or one's peers. It is often viewed as a legal contract. Across the globe, there has been a general movement toward securing equal rights for women within marriages to men, and toward greater acceptance of interethnic, interracial, interfaith, interdenominational, interclass, intercommunity, transnational, and same-sex couples. Ongoing debates continue over issues such as the legal status of married women, tolerance for violence within marriage, customs like dowry and bride price, the minimum age for marriage, and whether premarital or extramarital sex should be criminalized.

The word "marriage" entered English around 1300, borrowed from Old French *mariage* (12th century), which ultimately traces back to the Latin *maritātus*, meaning "married," the past participle of *maritāre* ("to marry"). The Latin adjective *marītus* ("matrimonial, nuptial") could also be used as a noun for "husband" in its masculine form and "wife" in its feminine form. The related term "matrimony" comes from the Old French *matremoine* (around 1300 CE), which itself is a learned borrowing from Latin *mātrimōnium*, derived from *māter* ("mother") plus the suffix *-mōnium*, indicating an action, state, or condition.

Anthropologists have put forward several competing definitions of marriage, trying to cover the wide range of marital practices seen across cultures. Even within Western culture, as Evan Gerstmann has noted, definitions of marriage have swung from one extreme to another and everywhere in between.

In *The History of Human Marriage* (1891), 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." Later, in *The Future of Marriage in Western Civilization* (1936), he rejected this earlier definition and instead provisionally called marriage "a relation of one or more men to one or more women that is recognized by custom or law."

The anthropological handbook *Notes and Queries* (1951) defined marriage as "a union between a man and a woman such that children born to the woman are the recognized legitimate offspring of both partners." Noting the Nuer people of Sudan, where women could act as a husband in certain circumstances (ghost marriage), Kathleen Gough suggested modifying this to "a woman and one or more other persons." In her study of the Nayar, a polyandrous society in India, Gough found that the typical "husband" role was split between a non-resident "social father" of the woman's children and her lovers, none of whom had legal rights to the child. This led Gough to set aside sexual access as a key element and define marriage solely in terms of the legitimacy of offspring. Economic anthropologist Duran Bell criticized this legitimacy-based definition, arguing that some societies do not require marriage for legitimacy and that the definition becomes circular in places where illegitimacy carries no other legal or social meaning for a child beyond the mother being unmarried.

Edmund Leach found Gough's definition too narrow, focusing too much on recognized legitimate offspring. He suggested viewing marriage in terms of the different types of rights it establishes. In a 1955 article in *Man*, Leach argued that no single definition of marriage fits all cultures. He offered a list of ten rights often associated with marriage, though specific rights vary across cultures. These rights included establishing a legal father for a woman's children, establishing a legal mother for a man's children, giving the husband a monopoly on the wife's sexuality, giving the wife a monopoly on the husband's sexuality, giving the husband partial or full rights to the wife's domestic and other labor, giving the wife partial or full rights to the husband's domestic and other labor, giving the husband partial or total control over the wife's property, giving the wife partial or total control over the husband's property, creating a joint property fund for the children of the marriage, and establishing a socially significant "relationship of affinity" between the husband and his wife's brothers. Notably, the monopoly on sexuality generally does not include a right to sexual access, as this is considered marital rape in many countries.

Monogamy is a form of marriage where an individual has only one spouse, either for their entire life or at any one time.