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.-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.-to dispose of in wedlock; to give away as wife.-to take for husband or wife. see the note below.-figuratively, to unite in the closest and most endearing relation.-to enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife.-indeed ! in truth ! -- a term of asseveration said to have been derived from the practice of swearing by the virgin mary.