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wedlock - 6 dictionary results
wed⋅lock
[wed-lok] 
–noun
| the state of marriage; matrimony. |
Origin:
bef. 1100; ME wedlok, OE wedlāc lit., a pledging, equiv. to wed pledge (see wed ) + -lāc verbal n. suffix
bef. 1100; ME wedlok, OE wedlāc lit., a pledging, equiv. to wed pledge (see wed ) + -lāc verbal n. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To wedlock
| wed·lock (wěd'lŏk') n. The state of being married; matrimony. [Middle English wedlocke, from Old English wedlāc : wedd, pledge + -lāc, n. suff. expressing activity.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Wedlock
Wed"lock\, n. [AS. wedl[=a]c a pledge, be trothal; wedd a pledge + l[=a]c a gift, an offering. See Wed, n., and cf. Lake, v. i., Knowledge.]1. The ceremony, or the state, of marriage; matrimony. "That blissful yoke . . . that men clepeth [call] spousal, or wedlock." --Chaucer. For what is wedlock forced but a hell, An age of discord or continual strife? --Shak. 2. A wife; a married woman. [Obs.] --B. Jonson. Syn: See Marriage.Wedlock
Wed"lock\, v. t. To marry; to unite in marriage; to wed. [R.] "Man thus wedlocked." --Milton.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : wedlock
Spanish:
matrimonio,
German:
die Ehe,
Japanese:
結婚生活
wedlock
O.E. wedlac "pledge-giving, marriage vow," from wed + -lac, noun suffix meaning "actions or proceedings, practice," attested in about a dozen O.E. compounds (cf. feohtlac "warfare"), but this is the only surviving example. Suffix altered by folk etymology through association with lock. Meaning "condition of being married" is recorded from c.1225.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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wedlock
see out of wedlock.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
