marry

This word carries a heavy weight of permanence and social commitment. It focuses on the transition of status from single to partnered, often evoking images of ritual, ceremony, and the blending of two lives into one legal entity. While "wed" is more poetic or archaic and "tie the knot" is casual, "marry" is the standard term used in both legal documents and everyday conversation. It can be used both actively to describe the act of taking a spouse and passively to describe the state of being joined.