Dictionary

bewed en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /bɪˈwɛd/ (UK, US)
• /biˈwɛd/ (UK, US)
• /bəˈwɛd/ (UK, US)

Etymology

From Middle English biwedden, from Old English beweddian (“to betroth, marry, give security”), from Proto-West Germanic *biwaddjōn, equivalent to be- + wed. Cognate with Old Frisian biweddia.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To pledge oneself to; betroth; wed; marry.
   • As his widowed mother remarries a Moor herself, she metaphorically beweds her husband's killer, leaving Lazarillo in Oedipal anxiety. 2003, Roberto Strongman, Allegorical I/lands:
   • Þæt wolde ðyncan wundorlic ælcum men þe on Englalande wæs, gif ænig man ær þam sæde þæt hit swa gewurþan sceolde, for ðam þe he wæs ær to þam swyðe up ahafen swylce he weolde þæs cynges ⁊ ealles Englalandes, ⁊ his sunan wæron eorlas, ⁊ þæs cynges dyrlingas, ⁊ his dohtor þæm cynge beweddod ⁊ beæwnod. 1898, Sir James H[enry] Ramsay of Bamff, [10th] Bar[one]t, “Eadward the Confessor (continued): a.d. 1051–1053”, in The Foundations of England: or Twelve Centuries of British History (b.c. 55–a.d. 1154), London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co Ltd, →OCLC, pages 461–462:
   • […] You venerable Fates, a vision to see: Approaching the bride-room of Zeus, Or ever bewedded to bridegroom from heaven. 1964, AESCHYLUS PROMETHEUS BOUND:
2. (transitive) To unite closely and intimately; join.

Forms

Deriveds

bewedding · bewedded

Relateds

self-bewedding

Synonyms

unite · attach (to unite closely and intimately) · put together