English
wed
Etymology

From Middle English wedden, weddien, from Old English weddian, from Proto-West Germanic *waddjōn, from Proto-Germanic *wadjōną, from *wadją, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ-.

Cognate with Scots wed, wod, wad ("to wed"), Saterland Frisian wädje, Western Frisian wedzje, 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. Related also to gage, engage, and wage.

Pronunciation Verb

wed (third-person singular simple present weds, present participle wedding, simple past and past participle wed or wedded)

  1. (transitive) To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony.
    The priest wed the couple.
    • 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 ↗:
      And Adam, wedded to another Eve,
      Shall live with her.
  2. (transitive) To take as one's spouse.
    She wed her first love.
  3. (intransitive) To take a spouse.
  4. (reciprocal) To take each other as a spouse.
    They will wed in the summer.
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC ↗:
      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?
  5. (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.
    • 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]:
      Affliction is enamoured of thy parts, and thou art wedded to calamity.
    • 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: […], 8th edition, London: […] T. Goodwin, B[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton, […]; J. Round […], and J[acob] Tonson] […], published 1720, →OCLC ↗:
      Men are wedded to their lusts.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XXIII, page 39 ↗:
      […] 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: […]
  6. (figurative, intransitive) To take to oneself and support; to espouse.
    • 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 Theater, published 1707, →OCLC ↗:
      They positively and concernedly wedded his cause.
  7. (Northern England, Scotland) To wager, stake, bet, place a bet, make a wager.
    I'd wed my head on that.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations

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