Marries

How to spell marries

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce marries

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does marries mean?

1. verbJoins two people together as spouses, or takes someone as a spouse (third person singular present).
2. verbBrings two different things together so that they work well as one.

Marries in a sentence

• The registrar marries couples in the town hall on weekday afternoons.

• This recipe marries sweet and savoury flavours into one balanced dish.

• She marries her long-term partner in a small garden ceremony next spring.

• The new design marries low cost with genuine durability.

Where does marries come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the third-person singular present form of the verb 'marry', which English took from the Old French verb 'marier' in the 1200s. The French word descended in turn from the Latin 'maritare', meaning 'to give in marriage' or 'to wed', which was built on 'maritus', a husband or married man. The deeper root is thought to relate to a sense of 'provided with a young woman', linking it to words for a young bride. The spelling trap appears only when the verb is conjugated: the base form ends in a consonant plus 'y', so adding the ending turns the 'y' into 'i' before '-es', giving 'marries' rather than 'marrys'. The same predictable rule reshapes 'carry' into 'carries' and 'hurry' into 'hurries'.

How the word is built

• marri- (from Latin maritare 'to wed', via marry)
• -es (third person singular present, with y changed to i)