section_path: Definitions/Relation recognized by custom or law
section_name: Relation recognized by custom or law
paragraph_text: Relation recognized by custom or law
  
  In The History of Human Marriage (1891), Edvard Westermarck defined marriage as "a more or less durable connection between male and female lasting beyond the mere act of propagation till after the birth of the offspring." In The Future of Marriage in Western Civilization (1936), he rejected his earlier definition, instead provisionally defining marriage as "a relation of one or more men to one or more women that is recognized by custom or law".