bride

¹ American  

[brahyd] / braɪd /

noun

1. a newly married woman or a woman about to be married.

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bride ² American  

[brahyd, breed] / braɪd, brid /

noun

1. Also called bar, leg, tie.  a connection consisting of a thread or a number of threads for joining various solid parts of a design in needlepoint lace.

2. an ornamental bonnet string.

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Bride ³ American  

[brahyd] / braɪd /

noun

1. Saint. Brigid, Saint.

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Bride ¹ British  

/ braɪd /

noun

1. See Bridget

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bride ² British  

/ braɪd /

noun

1. a woman who has just been or is about to be married

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bride ³ British  

/ braɪd /

noun

1. Also called: bar.  lacemaking needlework a thread or loop that joins parts of a pattern

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bride Idioms  

1. see give away (the bride).

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Other Word Forms

• brideless adjective
• bridelike adjective

Etymology

Origin of bride¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English brȳd; cognate with Dutch bruid, German Braut, Old Norse brūthr, Gothic brūths

Origin of bride²

1865–70; < French: bonnet-string, bridle, Old French < Germanic; bridle

Example Sentences

Even “Four Weddings,” in which brides rated one another’s ceremonies on food, dresses and décor, now feels like a kind of collective fever dream.

From Salon

He met his wife, Rebecca, at a wedding in 1992 that he attended as a friend’s plus one, irking her by interrupting her conversation with the bride.

From The Wall Street Journal

But behind the scenes this 27-year-old bride was dealing with terminal illness, made more stressful by a pensions struggle with her former employer.

From BBC

She is teaching me how to sew, and we are making pretty nightgowns and robes that she will sell to the families of new brides for their trousseaux.

From Literature

This led to the bride running out of the room in tears, Marnoch said.

From BBC

Related Words

• bride-to-be
• newlywed