Bryd

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic word for a newly married woman ; a Middle English spelling of the word for a feathered creature that flies
2. A bride, meaning a woman just married, in older English ; an obsolete spelling of bird, the feathered flying animal
3. Old English for a young wife on her wedding day ; a medieval variant spelling of the word for a winged animal with feathers

Etymology: In Old English the word was spelled "bryd" and meant a woman newly married or about to be. Its vowel has changed considerably since then. The Old English sound was a rounded front vowel that no longer exists in standard English, and it later became the diphthong we hear in "bride" today, while the spelling stayed closer to the older form. Its relatives in other Germanic languages show the same root: Old Norse "brúðr", German "Braut", and Dutch "bruid" all descend from a Proto-Germanic ancestor, "*brūdiz". Where that ancestor came from is uncertain. The "groom" in "bridegroom" is not the person who looks after horses. Old English "guma" meant simply "man", and "bridegume" was later reshaped by association with "groom", a word for a boy or servant, which is how the spelling settled.

Synonyms: bride

Antonyms: groom, bridegroom