Weddian

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To solemnly promise or commit to marry someone; to pledge oneself in a formal union recognized by social or legal customs; to enter into an agreement of matrimony
2. To engage in a formal vow or covenant to join in marriage; to declare allegiance through a binding promise of lifelong partnership; to become legally or traditionally bound to another in wedlock
3. To make a binding promise of marriage to another person; to undertake a solemn vow signifying commitment to a marital relationship; to agree in a formal ceremony or declaration to unite as spouses

Etymology: Old English "weddian" meant "to pledge" or "to give a pledge," and it had nothing to do with marriage at first. The word came from "wedd," a pledge or security, a sense that survives in the legal term "wager" and the old phrase "to give one's word as a wedd." The idea was a binding promise, something a person staked on keeping an agreement. Its connection to marriage developed because the most important pledges in early English society were the ones made between families when a couple was betrothed. Over time the verb narrowed. By the Middle English period, "wedden" was used specifically for pledging oneself in marriage, and the older sense of simply promising something faded from ordinary use. Modern English keeps the marriage meaning and drops the general one, so "wed" now sounds formal and ceremonial, and its ancestor's broad idea of a solemn commitment survives mainly in the verb's sense of a formal union.