wed

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony.

   The priest wed the couple.

2. 2
   verb

   To take as one's spouse.

   She wed her first love.

3. 3
   verb

   To take each other as a spouse.

   They will wed in the summer.

4. 4
   verb

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

   I'm not wedded to this proposal; suggest an alternative.

5. 5
   verb

   To take to oneself and support; to espouse.

   They positively and concernedly wedded his cause.

6. 6
   verb

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

   I'd wed my head on that.

7. 7
   adj

   having been taken in marriage

8. 8
   verb

   take in marriage

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, a…