Endogamy

Endogamy is the social practice of marrying within a defined group, such as a community, caste, religion, or ethnic group. It helps maintain group boundaries and can shape kinship, identity, and social status.

Marriage rule: A social norm or institution that prescribes or restricts whom people may marry. Endogamy is one form of rule that limits acceptable partners to a defined group.
Religious endogamy: The practice of marrying within a religious community. It is a common form of endogamy that sustains religious identity across generations.
Social stratification: The structured ranking of people into social layers with unequal access to status, power, or resources. Endogamy can preserve inherited boundaries between ranked groups.
Homogamy: The tendency for people to marry others with similar social characteristics. Similarity between spouses can occur without a rule requiring marriage within a bounded group.
Exogamy: The practice of marrying outside a defined social group. It reverses endogamy’s boundary by requiring or favoring an outside partner.
Caste endogamy: The practice of marrying within one’s caste or a smaller caste group. It helps preserve caste boundaries and inherited status.
Ethnic boundary: A socially maintained distinction between groups understood as ethnically different. Marriage within the group can make ethnic boundaries durable across generations.
Endogamous group: A social group whose members typically marry within its boundaries. This broader unit may be defined by religion, caste, ethnicity, or another shared affiliation.
Caste system: A form of social stratification that assigns people to hereditary groups with unequal status and prescribed relations. Caste endogamy reproduces group membership across generations.
Ethnic endogamy: The practice of marrying within an ethnic group. It connects partner choice to shared ancestry, identity, or cultural affiliation.

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