
verb (used with object), wed·ded or wed, wed·ding.
- to marry (another person) in a formal ceremony.
- to unite (a couple) in marriage or wedlock; marry.
- to bind by close or lasting ties; attach firmly: She wedded herself to the cause of the poor.
- to blend together or unite inseparably: a novel that weds style and content perfectly.
verb (used without object), wed·ded or wed, wed·ding.
- to contract marriage; marry.
- to become united or to blend: a building that will wed with the landscape.
verb weds, wedding, wedded or wed
- to take (a person of the opposite sex) as a husband or wife; marry
- (tr) to join (two people) in matrimony
- (tr) to unite closely
Old English weddian “to pledge, covenant to do something, marry,” from Proto-Germanic *wadjojanan (cf. Old Norse veðja “to bet, wager,” Old Frisian weddia “to promise,” Gothic ga-wadjon “to betroth”), from PIE root *wadh- “to pledge, to redeem a pledge” (cf. Latin vas, genitive vadis “bail, security,” Lithuanian vaduoti “to redeem a pledge”). Sense remained “pledge” in other Germanic languages (cf. German Wette “bet, wager”); development to “marry” is unique to English. “Originally ‘make a woman one’s wife by giving a pledge or earnest money’, then used of either party” [Buck]. Related: Wedded; wedding.