Wed
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative spelling of Wed.. alt-of, alternative
- 2 the fourth day of the week; the third working day wordnet
- 1 To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony. transitive
"The priest wed the couple."
- 2 take in marriage; married wordnet
- 3 To take as one's spouse. transitive
"She wed her first love."
- 4 perform a marriage ceremony wordnet
- 5 To take a spouse. intransitive
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To take each other as a spouse. reciprocal
"They will wed in the summer."
- 7 To join or commit to, more or less permanently, as if in marriage. figuratively, transitive
"I'm not wedded to this proposal; suggest an alternative."
- 8 To take to oneself and support; to espouse. figuratively, intransitive
"They positively and concernedly wedded his cause."
- 9 To wager, stake, bet, place a bet, make a wager. Northern-England, Scotland
"I'd wed my head on that."
- 1 having been taken in marriage wordnet
Example
More examples"Better be half hanged than ill wed."
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.
Related phrases
More for "wed"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.