MARRIAGE & CIVIL UNION  DEFINED

MARRIAGE as currently defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

1 a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage <same-sex marriage> b: the mutual relation of married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage2: an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected ; especially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities3: an intimate or close union <the marriage of painting and poetry — J. T. Shawcross>

CIVIL UNION as currently defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

the legal status that ensures to same-sex couples specified rights and responsibilities of married couples (the “specified rights” part means “not all the parts, just some of them”)