Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Marry

Mar′ry

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Married
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Marrying
.]
[OE.
marien
, F.
marier
, L.
maritare
, fr.
maritus
husband, fr.
mas
,
maris
, a male. See
Male
, and cf.
Maritral
.]
1.
To unite in wedlock or matrimony; to perform the ceremony of joining, as a man and a woman, for life; to constitute (a man and a woman) husband and wife according to the laws or customs of the place.
Tell him that he shall
marry
the couple himself.
Gay.
2.
To join according to law, (a man) to a woman as his wife, or (a woman) to a man as her husband. See the Note to def. 4.
A woman who had been
married
to her twenty-fifth husband, and being now a widow, was prohibited to marry.
Evelyn.
3.
To dispose of in wedlock; to give away as wife.
Maecenas took the liberty to tell him [Augustus] that he must either
marry
his daughter [Julia] to Agrippa, or take away his life.
Bacon.
4.
To take for husband or wife. See the Note below.
☞ We say, a man is married to or marries a woman; or, a woman is married to or marries a man. Both of these uses are equally well authorized; but given in marriage is said only of the woman.
They got him [the Duke of Monmouth] . . . to declare in writing, that the last king [Charles II.] told him he was never
married
to his mother.
Bp. Lloyd.
5.
Figuratively, to unite in the closest and most endearing relation.
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am
married
unto you.
Jer. iii. 14.
To marry ropes
.
(Naut.)
(a)
To place two ropes along side of each other so that they may be grasped and hauled on at the same time
.
(b)
To join two ropes end to end so that both will pass through a block.
Ham. Nav. Encyc.

Mar′ry

,
Verb.
I.
To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife.
I will, therefore, that the younger women
marry
.
1 Tim. v. 14.
Marrying man
,
a man disposed to marry.
[Colloq.]

Mar′ry

,
int
erj.
Indeed! in truth! – a term of asseveration said to have been derived from the practice of swearing by the Virgin Mary.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Marry

MAR'RY

,
Verb.
T.
[L. mas, maris, a male; L. vir, a husband, a lord or master.]
1.
To unite in wedlock or matrimony; to join a man and woman for life, and constitute them man and wife according to the laws or customs of a nation. By the laws, ordained clergymen have a right to marry persons within certain limits prescribed.
Tell him he shall marry the couple himself.
2.
To dispose of in wedlock.
Mecaenas told Augustus he must either marry his daughter Julia to Agrippa, or take away his life.
[In this sense, it is properly applicable to females only.]
3.
To take for husband or wife. We say, a man marries a woman; or a woman marries a man. The first was the original sense,but both are now well authorized.
4.
In Scripture, to unite in covenant, or in the closest connection.
Turn, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah, for I am married to you. Jer.3.

MAR'RY

,
Verb.
I.
To enter into the conjugal state; to unite as husband and wife; to take a husband or a wife.
If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. Matt.19.
I will therefore that the younger women marry. 1 Tim.5.

MAR'RY

, a term of asseveration, is said to have been derived from the practice of swearing by the virgin Mary. It is obsolete.

Definition 2024

marry

marry

English

Pronunciation

Verb

marry ‎(third-person singular simple present marries, present participle marrying, simple past and past participle married)

  1. (intransitive) To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife. [from 14th c.]
    Neither of her daughters showed any desire to marry.
    • 1641, Evelyn, Diary, quoted in 1869 by Edward J. Wood in The Wedding Day in All Ages and Countries, volume 2, page 241:
      Evelyn, in his "Diary," under date 1641, says that at Haerlem "they showed us a cottage where, they told us, dwelt a woman who had been married to her twenty-fifth husband, and, being now a widow, was prohibited to marry in future; […] "
    • 1755, The Holy Bible, both Old and New Testament, Digested, Illustrated, and Explained, second edition, page 59:
      But Esau, being now forty years of age, took a false step by marrying not only without his parents consent; but with two wives, daughters of the Hittites.
  2. (transitive, in passive) To be joined to (someone) as spouse according to law or custom. [from 14th c.]
    She was not happily married.
    His daughter was married some five years ago to a tailor's apprentice.
  3. (transitive) To arrange for the marriage of; to give away as wife or husband. [from 14th c.]
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXIII:
      The kyngdome of heven is lyke unto a certayne kinge, which maryed his sonne [...].
    He was eager to marry his daughter to a nobleman.
  4. (transitive) To take as husband or wife. [from 15th c.]
    In some cultures, it is acceptable for an uncle to marry his niece.
  5. (transitive, figuratively) To unite; to join together into a close union. [from 15th c.]
    The attempt to marry medieval plainsong with speed metal produced interesting results.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Bible (KJV), Jeremiah 3.14:
      Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you.
    • 2006, Lisa C. Hickman, William Faulkner and Joan Williams: The Romance of Two Writers
      For Faulkner, these years marry professional triumphs and personal disappointments: the Nobel Prize for Literature and an increasingly unlifting depression.
  6. (transitive) To unite in wedlock or matrimony; to perform the ceremony of joining spouses; to bring about a marital union according to the laws or customs of a place. [from 16th c.]
    A justice of the peace will marry Jones and Smith.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Gay, The what d'ye call it:
      Tell him that he shall marry the couple himself.
  7. (nautical) To place (two ropes) alongside each other so that they may be grasped and hauled on at the same time.
  8. (nautical) To join (two ropes) end to end so that both will pass through a block.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English Marie,[2] referring to Mary, the Virgin Mary.[3] Mid-14th century.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈmæɹi/

Interjection

marry!

  1. (obsolete) indeed!, in truth!; a term of asseveration.
    • William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part ii, Act 1, Scene 2,
      I have chequed him for it, and the young lion repents; marry, not in ashes and sackcloth, but in new silk and old sack.

References

  1. ↑ J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, s.v. "woman" (London: Dearborn Fitzroy, 1997), 656.
  2. ↑ “marry” in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Online.
  3. ↑ “marry” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

See also

Etymology

From Middle English marien, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman, Old French marier, from Latin marītāre ‎(“to wed”), from marītus ‎(“husband, suitor”), from mās, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meryo ‎(“young man”), same source as Sanskrit मर्य ‎(marya, “suitor, young man”). Compare its feminine derivatives - Welsh morwyn ‎(“girl”), merch ‎(“daughter”), Crimean Gothic marzus ‎(“wedding”), Ancient Greek μεῖραξ ‎(meîrax, “boy; girl”), Lithuanian martì ‎(“bride”), Avestan [script needed] ‎(mairya, “yeoman”).[script needed][1])

Similar Results