From Middle English wedden, weddien, from Old English weddian (“to pledge; wed”), from Proto-Germanic *wadjōną (“to pledge”), 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”), Dutch wedden (“to bet”), German wetten (“to bet”), Danish vædde (“to bet”), Swedish vädja (“to appeal”), Icelandic veðja (“to bet”). Related also to gage, engage.
- (transitive) To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony.
- The priest wed the couple.
- And Adam, wedded to another Eve, / Shall live with her.
- (transitive) To take as one's spouse.
- She wed her first love.
- (intransitive) To take a spouse.
- (figuratively, transitive) To join (more or less permanently)
- Thou art wedded to calamity.
- Men are wedded to their lusts.
- 2008, Bradley Simpson, Economists with Guns, page 72:
- […] the PPS paper proposed a political doctrine that wedded modernization theory to U.S. support for national security states […]
- (figuratively, intransitive) To take to oneself and support; to espouse.
- They positively and concernedly wedded his cause.
- (obsolete, rare) To commit.
- (Northern England, Scotland) To wager, stake, bet, place a bet, make a wager.
- I'd wed my head on that.
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
- ford, shallow river crossing
- drinking place for animals
- (ford): voorde