wed
/ˈwɛd/ verb
- verb (transitive) To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony. “The priest wed the couple.”
- verb (transitive) To take as one's spouse. “She wed her first love.”
- verb (intransitive) To take a spouse.
- verb (reciprocal) To take each other as a spouse. “They will wed in the summer.”
- verb (figuratively, transitive) To join or commit to, more or less permanently, as if in marriage. “I'm not wedded to this proposal; suggest an alternative.”
- verb (figurative, intransitive) To take to oneself and support; to espouse.
- verb (Northern England, Scotland) To wager, stake, bet, place a bet, make a wager. “I'd wed my head on that.”
Synonyms
marry Wednesday Midweek get married conjoin hook up with get hitched with espouse tie splice wedded
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A pledge; a pawn. [Obs.] Gower. Piers Plowman.
- verb To take for husband or for wife by a formal ceremony; to marry; to espouse.
- verb To join in marriage; to give in wedlock.
- verb To contact matrimony; to marry. "When I shall wed." Shak.
Etymology [AS. wedd; akin to OFries. wed, OD. wedde, OHG, wetti, G. wette a wager, Icel. veedh a pledge, Sw. vad a wager, an appeal, Goth. wadi a pledge, Lith. vaduti to redeem (a pledge), LL. vadium, L. vas, vadis, bail, security, vadimonium security, and Gr. Athlete, Gage a pledge, Wage.]
Etymology [OE. wedden, AS. weddian to covenant, promise, to wed, marry; akin to OFries. weddia to promise, D. wedden to wager, to bet, G. wetten, Icel. veedhja, Dan. vedde, Sw. vädja to appeal, Goth. gawadjon to betroth. See Wed, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wed”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details