traditional marriage

traditional marriage (countable and uncountable, plural traditional marriages)

1. Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see traditional,‎ marriage.
   • 1993, Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard), page 2661:

     The third set is the African traditional marriage as well as the Islamic marriage and the Hindu marriage. This is considered to be a potentially polygamous marriage.

   • 1974, Edmund Ilogu, Christianity and Ibo culture, page 220:

     A great deal has been written about polygamy as a traditional marriage system in all Africa of which Iboland is a part.

2. a heterosexual marriage; a social or legal union between two people of opposite sex.
   • 2011, Frank Newport/Gallup, For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage, link:

     For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.