Dictionary

wed en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈwɛd/
• wĕdʹ

Etymology

From Middle English wedden, weddien, from Old English weddian (“to pledge; wed”), from Proto-West Germanic *waddjōn, from Proto-Germanic *wadjōną (“to pledge”), from *wadją (“pledge”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“to pledge”). Cognate with Scots wed, wod, wad (“to wed”), Saterland Frisian wädje (“to bet, wager”), West Frisian wedzje (“to bet, wager”), Low German and Dutch wedden (“to bet”), German wetten (“to bet”), Danish vædde (“to bet”), Swedish vädja (“to appeal”), Icelandic veðja (“to bet”); more distantly, to Sanskrit वधू (vadhū́, “bride”). Related also to gage, engage, and wage.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony.
   • And Adam, wedded to another Eve, Shall live with her. 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
   • The priest wed the couple.
2. (transitive) To take as one's spouse.
   • She wed her first love.
   • In 1989, he wed Playmate Kimberley Conrad, a marriage that ended in 2010. In 2013, he married his younger girlfriend, Crystal Harris, with whom he was still wed at the time of his death. 2017 September 27, David Browne, “Hugh Hefner, 'Playboy' Founder, Dead at 91”, in Rolling Stone:
3. (intransitive) To take a spouse.
4. (reciprocal) To take each other as a spouse.
   • On the rock above was an inscription in three words. Ayesha translated it. It was `Wedded in Death.' What was the life-story of these two, who, of a truth, were beautiful in their lives, and in their death were not divided? 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
   • They will wed in the summer.
5. (figuratively, transitive) To join or commit to, more or less permanently, as if in marriage.
   • Affliction is enamoured of thy parts, and thou art wedded to calamity. c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
   • […] the PPS paper proposed a political doctrine that wedded modernization theory to U.S. support for national security states […] 2008, Bradley Simpson, Economists with Guns, page 72:
   • I'm not wedded to this proposal; suggest an alternative.
   • Men are wedded to their lusts. 1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], London: […] B. Aylmer, […]; [a]nd W. Rogers, […], published 1696, →OCLC:
   • It will be a tragedy if further enterprises of this kind—for example, the one proposed between South Wales, Bristol and the South Coast via Salisbury—are now deferred until they, too, are realised too late to make an impact on a public that is too firmly wedded to the roads to be wooed back to the trains. 1962 April, “Death from Natural Causes?”, in Modern Railways, page 218:
   • […] When each by turns was guide to each, ⁠And Fancy light from Fancy caught, ⁠And Thought leapt out to wed with Thought, Ere Thought could wed itself with Speech: […] 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 39:
6. (figuratively, intransitive) To take to oneself and support; to espouse.
   • They positively and concernedly wedded his cause. 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater:
7. (Northern-England, Scotland) To wager, stake, bet, place a bet, make a wager.
   • I'd wed my head on that.

Forms

Deriveds

unwed · wedbreach · nearlywed · weddable · newlywed · wedlease · interwed · rewed · bewed · wadset · miswed · wedder · soon-to-wed · wedbreak · elderwed

Synonyms

marry

Translations (101)

hu esket (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · la maritō (intransitive: to take a spouse) · fi vihkiä (avioliittoon) (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · mk венчава (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ro cununa (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · la nūbō (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · vi cưới (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ja 娶る (intransitive: to take a spouse) · fi avioitua (intransitive: to take a spouse) · hu egybekel (reciprocal: to take each other as a spouse) · pt casar (intransitive: to take a spouse) · da gifte sig (intransitive: to take a spouse) · cmn 結婚 /结婚 (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · de zur Frau nehmen (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · hu házasodik (reciprocal: to take each other as a spouse) · hu hozzámegy (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · es casarse (reciprocal: to take each other as a spouse) · no ektevie (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · de zum Mann nehmen (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · hu megnősül (intransitive: to take a spouse) · fi naida (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · ru вы́йти за́муж (intransitive: to take a spouse) · fa زناشویی (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · hu megházasodik (intransitive: to take a spouse) · fi avioitua jonkun kanssa (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · bg омъжвам се (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · mk се жени (intransitive: to take a spouse) · ar تَزَوَّجَ (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ru брать в жёны (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · la nūbō (intransitive: to take a spouse) · ru взять в жёны (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · ja 結婚する (intransitive: to take a spouse) · hy ամուսնանալ (intransitive: to take a spouse) · la maritō (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · es casarse con (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · ro căsători (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · pt casar com (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · da ægte (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · fi mennä naimisiin jonkun kanssa (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · my လက်ထပ် (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ro însura (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · my မင်္ဂလာဆောင် (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · hu esküszik (reciprocal: to take each other as a spouse) · mk се венчава (intransitive: to take a spouse) · hu feleségül megy (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · hu házasodik (intransitive: to take a spouse) · de verheiraten (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · hu házasságot köt (reciprocal: to take each other as a spouse) · la nūbō (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ro mărita (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · de heiraten (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · fa ازدواج (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · fi ottaa puolisokseen (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · pt casar (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · hu összeházasodik (reciprocal: to take each other as a spouse) · no ekte (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · ru выходи́ть за́муж (intransitive: to take a spouse) · es casarse (intransitive: to take a spouse) · hu összeesküszik (reciprocal: to take each other as a spouse) · da vie (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · es casar (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · nb gifte seg (intransitive: to take a spouse) · ru вы́йти за́муж за (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · fa پیوند (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ang ǣwnian (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · el παντρεύομαι (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · el παντρεύω (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ru пожени́ться (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · hu elvesz (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · mk жени (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · bg женя се (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · hu összead (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · it sposare (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · de vermählen (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · bg бракосъчетавам (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ru жени́ться (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · oc esposar (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · it sposare (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · fi mennä naimisiin (intransitive: to take a spouse) · hu nősül (intransitive: to take a spouse) · fr marier (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · da gifte sig med (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · oc maridar (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · no vie (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · hy ամուսնացնել (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · ja 結婚する (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · mk мажи (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · fr épouser (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · de trauen (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · hu feleségül vesz (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · ca esposar (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · ru жени́ться (intransitive: to take a spouse) · la maritō (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · ca esposar (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · oc casar (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · mk се мажи (intransitive: to take a spouse) · no gifte seg med (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · de heiraten (intransitive: to take a spouse) · ja 結婚する (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony) · hu férjhez megy (transitive: to take as one's spouse) · hu összeesket (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony)