Wedlocke

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of being joined in marriage, especially as a formal or lawful union between two people
2. An archaic term for the married state, meaning the bond of a husband and wife under the law
3. Marriage itself, the institutional status of a man and woman bound together as spouses

Etymology: The "lock" in wedlock has nothing to do with keys or bolts. In Old English, "-lāc" was a suffix meaning a gift, offering, or action, as in "feallīc" ("befitting"), so "wedlāc" originally meant a solemn pledge or binding promise. The first element, "wedd," meant a pledge or security, the same root that gave English "wed" its sense of making a binding vow. The word once covered any sworn agreement, but over the Middle English period it narrowed to the marriage pledge itself. The spelling "wedlocke," with its final "e," belongs to that Middle English stage, when the word was in everyday use. Its meaning stayed close to the vow, so the state it names is the bond created by the promise rather than the ceremony.