Bachelor embracing a girl before marriage (5)
I believe the answer is:
banns
'marriage' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'bachelor embracing a girl before' is the wordplay.
'bachelor' becomes 'ba' (the qualification: Bachelor of Arts).
'embracing a girl before' becomes 'nns' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ba'+'nns'='BANNS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for banns that I've seen before include "Proclamation of intended marriage" , "Notices of marriage" , "Notice of marriage read in church" , "Public announcement read in church of forthcoming marriage" , "Notice of a wedding" .)