Marriage (or wedlock) is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship.

The definition of marriage varies according to different cultures, but is usually an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged. Such a union, often formalized via a wedding ceremony, may also be called matrimony.

Marriage can be recognized by any of the following: A state An organization A religious authority A tribal group A local community Peers of the marriage celebrants

TYPES: a. Monogamy a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. [1] b. Polygamy translated literally in Late Greek as "often married") is a marriage which includes more than two partners. c. Polyandry a form of marriage in which a woman has two or more husbands at the same time. The form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers is known as "fraternal polyandry", and it is believed by many anthropologists to be the most frequently encountered form. d. Fictive marriage/marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than the reasons of relationship, family, or love. Instead, such a marriage is orchestrated for personal gain or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as political marriage. e. Sister exchange marriage is practiced in Bambuti Africa, men from other bands exchange sisters or other females to whom they have ties. There is no formal marriage ceremony: a couple are considered officially married when the groom presents his bride's parents with an antelope he alone has hunted and killed. f. Bride Capture is a practice throughout history and around the world in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry. g. Sororate marriage is a type of marriage in which a husband engages in marriage or sexual relations with the sister of his wife, usually after the death of his wife, or once his wife has proven infertile. h. Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow, and the widow is obliged to marry her deceased husband's brother.