Nuptial means relating to marriage or a wedding ceremony. When you see nuptial vows, those are the promises a couple makes to each other during their wedding. A nuptial celebration is the party and festivities that happen when two people get married.

The word has a formal, ceremonial feeling to it. You're more likely to see it in wedding invitations, poetry, or literature than in casual conversation. Someone might describe a nuptial mass at a church wedding, or refer to pre-nuptial preparations (meaning everything that happens before the wedding day).

You'll often see the word used in its plural form: nuptials. When someone says “We're attending their nuptials next Saturday,” they mean the wedding ceremony itself. The word carries a sense of dignity and importance, recognizing that a wedding is one of life's most significant moments.

In nature, scientists sometimes use nuptial to describe animal mating behaviors or displays, like the bright nuptial plumage that some male birds develop during breeding season to attract a mate.