How do you define marriage?
WND reports that the Merriam-Webster dictionary has altered its definition of the word marriage:
Main Entry:
…
1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage <same-sex marriage> b: the mutual relation of married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage2: an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected ; especially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities3: an intimate or close union <the marriage of painting and poetry — J. T. Shawcross>
I looked around for more examples of this.
Dictionary.com is a little more subtle:
1.
1. The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife.
2. The state of being married; wedlock.
3. A common-law marriage.
4. A union between two persons having the customary but usually not the legal force of marriage: a same-sex marriage.
2. A wedding.
3. A close union: “the most successful marriage of beauty and blood in mainstream comics” (Lloyd Rose).
4. Games The combination of the king and queen of the same suit, as in pinochle.
Wow, look at this definition and examples given at yourdictionary.com
# the state of being married; relation between spouses; married life; wedlock; matrimony
# the act of marrying; wedding
# the rite or form used in marrying
# any close or intimate union
# the king and queen of a suit, esp. as a meld in pinochle
Ok, that’s pretty a pretty lame wording, but look at the word-in-sentence examples a little further down the page:
Adjective modifier
* heterosexual: This union of two male souls is the ideal upon which heterosexual marriage is modeled.
What? Did I read that right? Somebody help me out here. What??
Ok, in fairness, there are some states, under certain conditions where same sex people can marry. Since that is law in those states, I would have to defend Merriam-Webster’s definition, because.. well.. it is correct in the sense of current law in some states. But not in all states. Dictionary.com’s definition is probably the most diplomatic definition, though.
The yourdictionary.com definition, depending on how you look at it, is badly worded and even outright false. The adjective modifier example given still has me baffled.
