Thursday 19 March 2009

Merriam-Webster's dictionary "makes gay marriage official"

Popnography reports that "A new entry in the reference book represents progress -- and (bonus!) pisses off right-wingers."

Here is the new definition of the word marriage according to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary:

Main Entry: mar·riage
Pronunciation: \ˈmer-ij, ˈma-rij\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English mariage, from Anglo-French, from marier to marry
Date: 14th century


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 marriage
2: an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected ; especially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities
3: an intimate or close union /the marriage of painting and poetry — J. T. Shawcross/

*/emphasis mine/

1 comment:

artmika said...

Apparently, these changes in the Merriam-Webster's dictionary were made few years ago (in 2003, as reported by the AP). Back then, they passed unnoticed, and we should thank conservative websites for their 'PR' to bring the issue to the spotlight now :)