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wed

verb
/ˈwɛd/

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.

  1. derived from *wedʰ-✻ — “to pledge”
  2. inherited from *wadjōną✻ — “to pledge”
  3. inherited from *waddjōn✻
  4. inherited from weddian
  5. inherited from wedden

Definitions

  1. To perform the marriage ceremony for

    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.

  2. 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.

  3. To take a spouse.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. To take each other as a spouse.

      • They will wed in the summer.
      • 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?

    2. To join or commit to, more or less permanently, as if in marriage.

      • I'm not wedded to this proposal; suggest an alternative.
      • Affliction is enamoured of thy parts, and thou art wedded to calamity.
      • Men are wedded to their lusts.

    3. To take to oneself and support

      To take to oneself and support; to espouse.

      • They positively and concernedly wedded his cause.

    4. To wager, stake, bet, place a bet, make a wager.

      • I'd wed my head on that.

    5. Alternative spelling of Wed..

The neighborhood

Derived

soon-to-wed

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at wed. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01wed02marriage03married04marry05conjugal06spouses07spouse

A definitional loop anchored at wed. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at wed

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA