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I am reading a book that says a man "consumed the marriage", which I presume should be "consummated".

I did find an Italian website a using the same expression, although that read like it was written by a non-native speaker.

I assume there is no such expression as "consumed the marriage"?

The book is “Easy Meat” by Peter McLoughlin. Opening page:

“...then he [Muhammed] married Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consumed that marriage when she was nine years old” - Hadith Book 63

The book is English but the quote is a translation. However, I'd be surprised it was the author that ran it through a translator.

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    Sounds like an "autocorrect" error to me. – Max Williams Jun 6 '16 at 7:19
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    Marriage consumes the man, not the other way around. – deadrat Jun 6 '16 at 7:33
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    Considering th esubject, I doubt the author intended a pun. I think it is likely a (translation) error that slipped through the editor's fingers. – oerkelens Jun 6 '16 at 7:53
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    In Italian you have the expression "consumare il matrimonio" which has important implications for the Catholic rules that govern marriage. Probably your sentence is a translation. – user66974 Jun 6 '16 at 7:58
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    I think the correct translation is "consummate" – user66974 Jun 6 '16 at 8:13
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The consensus (interesting Italian comments notwithstanding) is "consume" must be a typo of "consummate", which I accept.

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    Yes, and the origin of the typo is just poor (literal) translation. – user66974 Jun 6 '16 at 12:11

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