Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. an official record that two people have undertaken a marriage ceremony.
Wikipedia
A marriage certificate (sometimes: marriage lines) is an official statement that two people are married. In most jurisdictions, a marriage certificate is issued by a government official only after the civil registration of the marriage.
In some jurisdictions, especially in the United States, a marriage certificate is the official record that two people have undertaken a marriage ceremony. This includes jurisdictions where marriage licenses do not exist. In some other jurisdictions, a marriage license serves a dual purpose of granting permission for a marriage to take place and then endorsing the same document to record the fact that the marriage has been performed.
A marriage certificate may be required for a number of reasons. It may be required as evidence of change of a party's name, on issues of legitimacy of a child, during divorce proceedings, or as part of a genealogical history, besides other purposes.
Usage examples of "marriage certificate".
It was during the move to Green Vale that he discovered that, in addition to the finer clothes of Shama and the children, those drawers contained Shama's marriage certificate and the birth certificates of her children.
From the details in the birth certificate, it would be possible to track down the marriage certificate of Janis's parents, and from there, their birth certificates if that proved necessary.
The address Gayle had given on her marriage certificate in 1973 had sounded familiar to Peter.
They're copies of the contract, my, my birth and marriage certificate, his will and birth certificate.
Another thing I've got is my mother's marriage certificate, if that helps.
The man's birth certificate was actually there, in a glass case along with his marriage certificate and the wartime ration book and identity documents that had been issued in Berlin.
The clergyman then wrote out the marriage certificate and signed it, taking a copy for registry, and we returned into the drawing-room.