married
He has been married for several years.
Oxford Essential Dictionary
married
adjective
having a husband or a wife:
Ian is married to Helen.
opposite single or unmarried
get married to take somebody as your husband or wife:
Fran and Paul got married last year.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
married
mar‧ried S2 W2 /ˈmærid/ BrE AmE adjective
[Word Family: verb: marry, remarry; noun: marriage, remarriage; adjective: married ≠ unmarried, marriageable]
1. having a husband or a wife:
Are you married or single?
They’ve been married for eight years.
Married men earn 70 percent more than single men.
married to
Nicole is married to my brother.
We’re getting married (=marrying) next month.
married couple/man/woman
a happily married man
When she first came to London, she was newly married and out of work.
So, how do you like married life?
► Do not say ‘be married with’ someone or ‘get married with’ someone. Say be married to someone or get married to someone.
2. be married to something to give most of your time and attention to a job or activity:
I was married to my job.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ be married She’s married now, and living in London.
▪ get married (=to have a wedding) Did you know that they are going to get married?
▪ stay married I cannot stay married to a man I do not love.
▪ be married with children (=to be married and have children) Kevin is married with four children.
■ adverbs
▪ happily married (=in a happy relationship with your husband or wife) I have been happily married for nine years.
▪ unhappily married (=not in a happy relationship with your husband or wife) They were behaving like an unhappily married old couple.
▪ newly/recently married (=married not long ago) The newly married couple arrived at their hotel.
■ nouns
▪ a married man/woman By 1957 a third of married women were working.
▪ a married couple Most of their friends are married couples.
▪ married life Throughout her married life, her husband’s interests had come first.
▪ sb’s married name (=a woman’s last name, when she has changed it to her husband’s name) She gave them Pat’s married name and address.
▪ married quarters (=where soldiers live with their wives) Can a soldier’s wife continue to live in married quarters if her husband leaves her?
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ married having a husband or wife: How long have you been married? | a married couple
▪ single not married: Chris is 45 and still single. | single mothers
▪ engaged having formally agreed to marry someone in the future: Jane and Pete have just got engaged. | engaged couples
▪ live together to share a home and have a sexual relationship, but not be married: More and more couples are choosing to live together rather than get married.
▪ separated no longer living with your husband or wife because of problems in your marriage: I think Joan and Brian are separated now.
▪ divorced no longer married because you have legally ended your marriage: My parents got divorced when I was 10. | divorced men
▪ widowed no longer married because your husband or wife has died: He’s a widowed father of two.
■ husband/wife etc
▪ husband/wife the man/woman you are married to: My wife’s a teacher.
▪ partner the person you live with and have a sexual relationship with. Partner is often used when people are not married, or when you do not know if they are married. It is also used when talking about same-sex couples: He lives with his partner Ruth and their eight-month-old son.
▪ fiancé/fiancée the man/woman you are engaged to: He and fiancée Wendy Hodgson will marry in July.
▪ divorcee a woman who is divorced: The Prince announced his intention to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.
▪ widow/widower a woman or man whose husband or wife has died: Imelda Marcos, the widow of the former President
▪ spouse formal your spouse is your husband or wife: The rule applies to spouses and children of military personnel.
▪ estranged wife/husband formal someone’s estranged husband or wife is one who they do not live with anymore: She is trying to get her sons back from her estranged husband.
■ someone who is not married
▪ bachelor a man who has never been married: He’s a confirmed bachelor (=a man who has decided he will never marry).
▪ spinster old-fashioned a woman who has never been married and is no longer young: The house was owned by an elderly spinster.
marry
mar‧ry S1 W2 /ˈmæri/ BrE AmE verb (past tense and past participle married, present participle marrying, third person singular marries)
[Word Family: verb: marry, remarry; noun: marriage, remarriage; adjective: married ≠ unmarried, marriageable]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: French; Origin: marier, from Latin maritare, from maritus 'husband']
1. [intransitive and transitive] if you marry someone, you become their husband or wife ⇨ married:
He married Bea in 1925.
I’m going to ask her to marry me on St Valentine’s Day.
She married young (=at a young age).
People in higher social classes are more likely to marry late (=when they are older than is usual).
Sophia had, in a sense, married beneath her (=married someone of a lower social class than her).
REGISTER
In everyday English, rather than saying that two people marry, people usually say that they get married.
▪ My parents got married in 1986.
2. [transitive] to perform the ceremony at which two people get married:
The priest who married us was really nice.
3. [transitive] to find a husband or wife for one of your children
marry somebody to somebody
She was determined to marry all of her daughters to rich men.
4. [transitive] (also marry up) formal to combine two different ideas, designs, tastes etc together
marry something with/to something
The building’s design marries a traditional style with modern materials.
marry something and something
He writes fiction that marries up realism and the supernatural.
5. not the marrying kind not the type of person who wants to get married:
I’m just not the marrying kind.
marry into something phrasal verb
to join a family or social group by marrying someone who belongs to it:
She married into a very wealthy family.
marry somebody ↔ off phrasal verb
to find a husband or wife for someone – used in order to show disapproval
marry somebody ↔ off to
They married her off to the first young man who came along.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
married
mar·ried [married marrieds] [ˈmærid] [ˈmærid] adjective
1. having a husband or wife
• a married man/woman
• Is he married?
• a happily married couple
• She's married to John.
• Rachel and David are getting married on Saturday.
• How long have you been married?
Opp: unmarried
2. only before noun connected with marriage
• Are you enjoying married life?
• Her married name (= the family name of her husband) is Jones.
3. ~ to sth very involved in sth so that you have no time for other activities or interests
• My brother is married to his job.
Collocations:
Marriage and divorce
Romance
fall/be (madly/deeply/hopelessly) in love (with sb)
be/believe in/fall in love at first sight
be/find true love/the love of your life
suffer (from) (the pains/pangs of) unrequited love
have/feel/show/express great/deep/genuine affection for sb/sth
meet/marry your husband/wife/partner/fiancé/fiancée/boyfriend/girlfriend
have/go on a (blind) date
be going out with/ (especially NAmE) dating a guy/girl/boy/man/woman
move in with/live with your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner
Weddings
get/be engaged/married/divorced
arrange/plan a wedding
have a big wedding/a honeymoon/a happy marriage
have/enter into an arranged marriage
call off/cancel/postpone your wedding
invite sb to/go to/attend a wedding/a wedding ceremony/a wedding reception
conduct/perform a wedding ceremony
exchange rings/wedding vows/marriage vows
congratulate/toast/raise a glass to the happy couple
be/go on honeymoon (with your wife/husband)
celebrate your first (wedding) anniversary
Separation and divorce
be unfaithful to/ (informal) cheat on your husband/wife/partner/fiancé/fiancée/boyfriend/girlfriend
have an affair (with sb)
break off/end an engagement/a relationship
break up with/split up with/ (informal) dump your boyfriend/girlfriend
separate from/be separated from/leave/divorce your husband/wife
annul/dissolve a marriage
apply for/ask for/go through/get a divorce
get/gain/be awarded/have/lose custody of the children
pay alimony/child support (to your ex-wife/husband)
Example Bank:
• I wouldn't have felt properly married if it hadn't been a church wedding.
• She's married to an actor.
• The newly married couple left for their honeymoon in Spain.
• When did you get married?
• a married man/woman/couple
marry
marry [marry marries married marrying] [ˈmæri] [ˈmæri] verb (mar·ries, marry·ing, mar·ried, mar·ried)
1. transitive, intransitive to become the husband or wife of sb; to get married to sb
• ~ (sb) She married a German.
• He was 36 when he married Viv.
• He never married.
• I guess I'm not the marrying kind (= the kind of person who wants to get married).
• + adj. They married young. It is more common to say
• They're getting married next month. than
• They're marrying next month.
2. transitive ~ sb to perform a ceremony in which a man and woman become husband and wife
• They were married by the local priest.
3. transitive ~ sb (to sb) to find a husband or wife for sb, especially your daughter or son
4. transitive ~ sth and/to/with sth (formal) to combine two different things, ideas, etc. successfully
Syn: unite
• The music business marries art and commerce.
Idioms: marry in haste ▪ marry money
Derived: marry into something ▪ marry somebody off ▪ marry something up
Verb forms:
Word Origin:
Middle English: from Old French marier, from Latin maritare, from maritus, literally ‘married’, (as a noun) ‘husband’.
Culture:
weddings
A wedding is the occasion when people get married. Marriage is the state of being married, though the word can also mean the wedding ceremony.
Before getting married a couple get engaged. It is traditional for the man to propose (= ask his girlfriend to marry him) and, if she accepts, to give his new fiancée an engagement ring, which she wears on the third finger of her left hand. Today many couples decide together to get married.
The couple then set a date and decide who will perform the marriage ceremony and where it will be held. In the US judges and religious leaders can perform weddings. Religious weddings are often held in a church or chapel, but the ceremony can take place anywhere and couples often choose somewhere that is special to them. In Britain many couples still prefer to be married in church, even if they are not religious. Others choose a civil ceremony conducted by a registrar at a registry office, or, since 1994 when the law was changed, at one of the many hotels and historic buildings which are licensed for weddings.
Traditionally, the family of the bride (= the woman who is to be married) paid for the wedding, but today the couple usually pay part of the cost. Many people choose a traditional wedding with a hundred or more guests. Before the wedding, the couple send out printed invitations and guests buy a gift for them, usually something for their home. In the US couples register at a store by leaving there a list of presents they would like. Guests go to the store to look at the list and buy a present. In Britain couples send a wedding list to guests or, as in America, open a bride’s book in a large store.
Before a wedding can take place in a church it must be announced there on three occasions. This is called the reading of the banns. Some religious groups refuse to allow a couple to marry in church if either of them has been divorced, but they may agree to bless the marriage after a civil ceremony.
Before the wedding the bride and bride groom or groom (= her future husband) often go to separate parties given for them by friends. At the groom’s stag party guests drink alcohol and joke about how the groom is going to lose his freedom. For the bride there is a hen party, called in the US a bachelorette party. Sometimes these parties take the form of a weekend trip to a foreign city.
At the wedding the groom’s closest male friend acts as the best man and stands next to him during the ceremony. Other friends act as ushers and show guests where to sit. The bride’s closest woman friend is chief bridesmaid (AmE maid of honour), or matron of honour if she is married, and other friends are bridesmaids. Children are bridesmaids if they are girls or pages if they are boys.
Many women choose to have a white wedding, and wear a long white wedding dress, with a veil (= a piece of thin white material) covering the face. The bride’s wedding clothes should include ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue’, to bring luck. The bridesmaids wear matching dresses specially made for the occasion and, like the bride, carry bouquets of flowers. The bridegroom, the best man and other men may wear morning dress (= a long-tailed jacket, dark trousers and a top hat) or, in the US, a tuxedo (= a black suit with a white shirt). Women guests dress smartly and often wear hats. Men often hire their clothes for a wedding but women often use a wedding as an opportunity to buy something new.
The bride traditionally arrives at the church a few minutes late and enters with her father who will give her away to her husband. The bride and groom exchange vows (= promise to stay together and support each other). The groom places a wedding ring on the third finger of the bride’s left hand, and sometimes the bride gives him a ring too. The couple are then declared man and wife. They sign the register (= the official record of marriages) and as they leave the church guests throw rice or confetti (= small pieces of coloured paper in lucky shapes, such as horseshoes and bells) over them.
The ‘ happy couple ’ and their guests then go to the wedding reception at the bride’s home, a hotel or the place where the ceremony took place if it was not a church or registry office. There are often speeches by the best man, the bride’s father and the bridegroom. The bride and groom together cut a wedding cake, which usually has several tiers (= layers), each covered with white icing (AmE frosting), with figures of a bride and groom on the top one. Before the newly-weds leave for their honeymoon (= a holiday to celebrate their marriage) the bride throws her bouquet in the air: there is a belief that the woman who catches it will soon be married herself. The car the couple leave in has usually been decorated by their friends with the words ‘ just married ’ and with old tin cans or shoes tied to the back.
Thesaurus:
marry verb T, I
• She married a German.
get married • • remarry • |old-fashioned journalism wed •
plan/want/hope/be going to marry/get married/remarry
sb never married/got married/remarried/wed
Marry or get married? If there is no object it is more common to use get married, except in formal English; if there is an object, marry is more common
• We got married in May.
• I should never have married him.
Word Family:
marry verb
mar • riage noun
mar • ried adjective (≠ unmarried)
Collocations:
Marriage and divorce
Romance
fall/be (madly/deeply/hopelessly) in love (with sb)
be/believe in/fall in love at first sight
be/find true love/the love of your life
suffer (from) (the pains/pangs of) unrequited love
have/feel/show/express great/deep/genuine affection for sb/sth
meet/marry your husband/wife/partner/fiancé/fiancée/boyfriend/girlfriend
have/go on a (blind) date
be going out with/ (especially NAmE) dating a guy/girl/boy/man/woman
move in with/live with your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner
Weddings
get/be engaged/married/divorced
arrange/plan a wedding
have a big wedding/a honeymoon/a happy marriage
have/enter into an arranged marriage
call off/cancel/postpone your wedding
invite sb to/go to/attend a wedding/a wedding ceremony/a wedding reception
conduct/perform a wedding ceremony
exchange rings/wedding vows/marriage vows
congratulate/toast/raise a glass to the happy couple
be/go on honeymoon (with your wife/husband)
celebrate your first (wedding) anniversary
Separation and divorce
be unfaithful to/ (informal) cheat on your husband/wife/partner/fiancé/fiancée/boyfriend/girlfriend
have an affair (with sb)
break off/end an engagement/a relationship
break up with/split up with/ (informal) dump your boyfriend/girlfriend
separate from/be separated from/leave/divorce your husband/wife
annul/dissolve a marriage
apply for/ask for/go through/get a divorce
get/gain/be awarded/have/lose custody of the children
pay alimony/child support (to your ex-wife/husband)
Example Bank:
• He asked me to marry him but I said no.
• He believes same-sex couples should be able to marry.
• He married her for love, not for money.
• He promised to marry her when he returned.
• I don't want to marry Robert.
• Matt told me he was going to marry again.
• People are marrying later these days.
• They are hoping to get married next year.
• They plan to marry next year.
• This was the woman he chose to marry.
• To keep his wealthy lifestyle, he had to marry well.
• the difficulties of marrying into the royal family
• I guess I'm not the marrying kind.
• The focus for business should be how to marry economic efficiency with social justice.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
married / ˈmær.id / / ˈmer- / adjective
A2 having a wife or husband:
a married couple
We've been happily married for five years.
Please state whether you are single, cohabiting, married, separated, divorced or widowed.
PC Smith was married with two children.
So how are you enjoying married life ?
She had an affair with a married man .
The survey reveals that two-thirds of married women earn less than their husbands.
So how long have you been married to Nicky?
figurative Rachel seems to be married to (= very involved with) her new job at the moment, so we hardly ever see her.
get married A2 to begin a legal relationship with someone as their husband or wife:
When are you getting married?
Chris and Debbie got married last summer.
Jamie's getting married to Laura.
© Cambridge University Press 2013
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
married
[mæ̱rid]
♦♦♦
1) ADJ: oft ADJ to n If you are married, you have a husband or wife.
We have been married for 14 years...
She is married to an Englishman.
...a married man with two children.
2) ADJ: ADJ n Married means relating to marriage or to people who are married.
For the first ten years of our married life we lived in a farmhouse.
3) ADJ: v-link ADJ to n If you say that someone is married to their work or another activity, you mean that they are very involved with it and have little interest in anything else.
She was a very strict Christian who was married to her job...
I have little time for women because I'm married to my cricket, so I'm leaving the arrangements to my sister.
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
1mar·ried /ˈmerid/ adj
1 a : united in marriage
• a newly/recently married couple
• They are happily married with several children.
• They're planning to get married [=planning to marry] in October.
b : having a husband or wife
• a married man/woman
• Is he married?
- often + to
• He has been married to his wife for almost 50 years. = He and his wife have been married to each other for almost 50 years.
c always used before a noun : of or relating to marriage
• He's enjoying married life.
2 : very involved with something (such as a job) - + to
• He's married to his work. [=he gives all of his attention to his work]
