Phrase guide

civil union

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • sĭv′əl yo͞on′yən
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌsɪv.əl ˈjuːn.jən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /ˌsɪv.əl ˈjun.jən/
  • Australian: /ˌsɪv.əl ˈjʉːn.jən/
  • New-Zealand: /ˌsəv.əl ˈjʉːn.jən/
  • Scotland: /ˌsɪv.əl ˈjʉn.jən/
  • India: /ˌsɪv.il ˈjuːn.jon/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A legal union similar to marriage, established to allow same-sex couples (and, in some jurisdictions, opposite-sex couples) rights similar to those married couples have.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: marital status

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

50 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: burgerlike verbintenis — legal union similar to marriage
  • Asturian: xunión civil — legal union similar to marriage
  • Basque: batasun zibil — legal union similar to marriage
  • Basque: izatezko bikote — legal union similar to marriage
  • Breton: emglev keodedel a gengred — legal union similar to marriage
  • Bulgarian: граждански съюз (graždanski sǎjuz) — legal union similar to marriage
  • Catalan: unió estable de parella — legal union similar to marriage
  • Catalan: unió civil — legal union similar to marriage
  • Chinese Mandarin: 民事結合 /民事结合 (mínshì jiéhé) — legal union similar to marriage
  • Chinese Mandarin: 公民結合 /公民结合 (gōngmín jiéhé) — legal union similar to marriage
  • Czech: registrované partnerství — legal union similar to marriage
  • Dutch: geregistreerd partnerschap — legal union similar to marriage
  • Esperanto: registrita partnereco — legal union similar to marriage
  • Finnish: siviiliavioliitto — legal union similar to marriage
  • Finnish: rekisteröity parisuhde — legal union similar to marriage
  • French: union civile — legal union similar to marriage
  • French: pacte civil de solidarité — legal union similar to marriage
  • French: partenariat enregistré — legal union similar to marriage
  • Galician: unión civil — legal union similar to marriage
  • Georgian: სამოქალაქო კავშირი (samokalako ḳavširi) — legal union similar to marriage
  • Georgian: სამოქალაქო პარტნიორობა (samokalako ṗarṭnioroba) — legal union similar to marriage
  • German: eingetragene Partnerschaft — legal union similar to marriage
  • Hawaiian: uniona kīwila — legal union similar to marriage
  • Indonesian: persatuan sipil — legal union similar to marriage
  • Irish: cumann sibhialta — legal union similar to marriage
  • Italian: unione civile — legal union similar to marriage
  • Japanese: 市民の結合 (shimin no ketsugō) — legal union similar to marriage
  • Maltese: unjoni ċivili — legal union similar to marriage
  • Mirandese: ounion de fato — legal union similar to marriage
  • Classical Nahuatl: nemekatilistli — legal union similar to marriage
  • Norman: parchonn'nie civile — legal union similar to marriage
  • Norwegian: registrert partnerskap — legal union similar to marriage
  • Occitan: union civila — legal union similar to marriage
  • Papiamentu: union civil — legal union similar to marriage
  • Polish: (formalny / rejestrowany) związek partnerski — legal union similar to marriage
  • Portuguese: união civil — legal union similar to marriage
  • Portuguese: união de facto — legal union similar to marriage
  • Portuguese: união estável — legal union similar to marriage
  • Russian: гражда́нский брак (graždánskij brak) — legal union similar to marriage
  • Russian: гражданское партнёрство (graždanskoje partnjórstvo) — legal union similar to marriage
  • Slovak: registrované partnerstvo — legal union similar to marriage
  • Spanish: unión civil — legal union similar to marriage
  • Spanish: unión de hecho — legal union similar to marriage
  • Spanish: pareja de hecho — legal union similar to marriage
  • Swedish: registrerat partnerskap — legal union similar to marriage
  • Tahitian: faʻaauraʻa autaeaʻeraʻa — legal union similar to marriage
  • Turkish: medeni birliktelik — legal union similar to marriage
  • Ukrainian: цивільне партнерство (cyvilʹne partnerstvo) — legal union similar to marriage
  • Vietnamese: kết hợp dân sự — legal union similar to marriage
  • Welsh: uniad sifil — legal union similar to marriage