How to spell marital

hear itmar·i·tal/'mærɪtəl/adjectiveSchwa and roots

What it means: Of or relating to the state of marriage.

In a sentence: The young couple wore marital rings when they got married.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as marrital or maritial.

Same family: marriage, married, unmarried, marital-status, marital-problems. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Marital” comes from the Latin word “maritus,” meaning “husband,” and entered English through Late Latin and French. It’s closely related to “marriage,” but “marital” is used only as an adjective, usually in formal or legal contexts.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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