(UK, historical) An irregular or clandestine marriage taking place in Fleet Prison, London, England, before the Marriage Act came into force in 1754.
(UK, historical) An irregular or clandestine marriage taking place in Fleet Prison, London, England, before the Marriage Act came into force in 1754.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with F.
(UK, historical) A clergyman based in or near the Fleet Prison, who performed Fleet marriages (a kind of clandestine marriage). The practice continued up to the 18th century.
(UK, legal, obsolete) A form of conditional marriage-gift of land under English law, often from father to daughter.
The state of being married.
(UK, historical) A marriage licence, granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury or his officials, permitting the marriage of two specified persons without banns, and at a place and time other than those prescribed by law.
An informal American term for civil union or domestic partnership — the legal arrangements that existed before same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide, offering some but not all the rights of marriage. The phrase was sometimes used dismissively by those who felt these arrangements fell short, and sometimes practically by couples navigating what options were available to them. Post-2015 (Obergefell v. Hodges), the term has mostly faded from active use.