Engagement

An engagement is an agreement to marry, and also refers to the time between proposal and marriage. Following the agreement, a couple are said to be "engaged to be married," or simply "engaged."

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Engagements have no set length, and may range from days to years. Customs surrounding engagement vary greatly, and may include a formal or informal announcement to friends, family, and community, or a celebratory party or gathering.

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A man who is engaged to a woman is said to be that woman's fiancé, and she is called his fiancée. These words are pronounced identically in English; the final -e in the feminine form is simply a French feminine ending.

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(During the 1990s fiancé/fiancée was sometimes used as euphemism for a live-in lover, especially in tabloid newspapers.)

Related Topics:
1990s - Euphemism - Tabloid

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Engagement is similar to betrothal, and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. However, betrothal usually means a more formal agreement, involving not only the couple but their families; the concept shades into that of arranged marriage.

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In contemporary Western culture, it is quite common (in fact, in some areas, far more common than not) for couples to spend a considerable period of engagement, often living together, possibly without setting a date for their marriage.

Related Topics:
Living together - Marriage

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Long-distance engagements occur where a couple is engaged with the intention of eventual marriage. At which time one of them relocates to be with the other. This is a necessity for couples living in different countries as immigration laws often require local residency for citizenship and naturalization. For example an American man meets a woman from Russia and proposes marriage. In order for her to join him in the United States, she must become his fiancée: and be granted a K-1 Visa before she can enter the US border. This law is sometimes abused by people trying to gain access to a country they wish to come to and there are indeed website where you can sign up to marry someone from countries such as Sweden, Russia, Thailand.

Related Topics:
Relocates - Citizenship - Naturalization - Visa

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