civil union

1. 1.

   a voluntary union for life (or until divorce) of adult parties of the same sex

   “parties to a civil union have all the same benefits, protections, and responsibilities under Vermont law as spouses in a marriage”

   Broadermarital status

   law

Questions about civil union

What does civil union mean?

civil union means "a voluntary union for life (or until divorce) of adult parties of the same sex".

Is civil union a common word?

civil union is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.