Unbetrothing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of formally ending an engagement or promise to marry ; dissolving or canceling a betrothal or marital commitment ; the process of legally or socially reversing an arranged or intended marriage agreement
2. A formal annulment or withdrawal from a pledged marriage promise ; the revocation or cancellation of a previously agreed engagement ; the termination of a betrothal contract before marriage
3. The process by which an intended marriage is called off or annulled ; the formal release from a pledged marital engagement ; the act of undoing or breaking off an arranged or promised union before it is solemnized

Etymology: To betroth someone was once to bind them with one's word. The root is Old English "trēowth", meaning faithfulness or truth, a sense now kept mostly in the phrase "by my troth". The same root gives "true" and "trust". Middle English speakers used "betroth" for pledging a person to marriage, so the word's original idea was a promise of faith, not a wedding. "Unbetrothing" combines three parts: the reversing prefix "un-", "betroth", and the "-ing" ending that turns a verb into a noun for an ongoing action. Because each part is transparent, the meaning follows directly from the parts: the undoing of a pledge of faith.

Synonyms: breaking engagement, disengaging

Antonyms: betrothing, engaging, promising