common-law marriage

English Thesaurus

1. a marriage relationship created by agreement and cohabitation rather than by ceremony (noun.state)

hypernym	:	marriage, matrimony, spousal relationship, union, wedlock,
definition	:	the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce) (noun.state)

domain category	:	jurisprudence, law,
definition	:	the collection of rules imposed by authority (noun.group)