marriageability
1
7.6
- noun
- /ˌmɛrɪdʒəˈbɪlɪti/
- Many factors, such as education and income, can affect a person's marriageability in today's society.
Examples
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Marriageability, in moral rather than biological terms, finally demarcates the difference between Olive's European descent and Christal's African heritage.
Academic text (2007) -
At fifty-eight, with no children of her own and the one she had access to and responsibility for dead, she wondered about the hysteria, the violence, and the damnation of pregnancy without marriageability.
Fiction book (1992) -
Dudden claims that whether or not domestic service ended in marriage within America or on returning home, it increased a Catholic Irish woman's marriageability.
Academic text (1990) -
II: Enhancing men's marriageability
Academic text (1997) -
In some cultures, family connections significantly influence the marriageability of individuals.
-
The study explored how societal norms impact the marriageability of women in urban areas.
How Suitable
Surface Forms
Morphology
marriageability = marriageable (transparent) = marriage + able + ity
Formed directly from the adjective 'marriageable' by the noun-forming suffix '-ity', with no meaning shift.
Etymology
Marriageability is made from marriage, from the simple verb marry, plus the ending -able meaning 'able' and -ity meaning 'state or quality'. So, it literally means the 'state of being able or suitable to marry', which is why we use it to talk about someone's suitability or eligibility for marriage.