Betroth

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /bɪˈtɹəʊð/

Definitions

1. To enter into a solemn agreement of marriage with someone
2. To make a formal promise or commitment to marry another person in the future
3. To make a formal engagement to marry someone in the future

Etymology: Before "betroth" meant a formal promise of marriage, its core was simply "truth." The root is Old English "trēowþ," a word for fidelity, good faith and covenant, which came from a Proto-Germanic term for a contract or promise. Behind that lies an Indo-European root whose sense of "tree" also carried the ideas of firmness, hardness and, by extension, faithfulness and trueness. A tree stood firm, and so a true word was like something solid to lean on. In Middle English, the word took the prefix "bi-," used to turn nouns into transitive verbs, and became "bitrouthen" or "bitreuthen." Its earliest sense was specific and legal: a man pledged himself to marry a woman, or arranged for a woman to be given in marriage. The meaning of "truth" in the root thus narrowed into one of marital fidelity, and then into the promise that preceded the wedding itself.

Synonyms: engage, promise, pledge, commit, bind

Antonyms: divorce, separate, disengage, uncommit, release