betrothed
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of betrothed
Explanation
Betrothed means "formally engaged." If you are betrothed, then, congratulations! As they say in the song, you’re going to the chapel — you’re going to get married. Betrothed came into English through a combination of bi-, or "thoroughly," and treowðe, the Old English word for "truth, a pledge." If you are betrothed, you are completely and formally pledged to someone. Betrothed has a slightly more old fashioned and formal feel than its synonym engaged, but both describe people who are between "Will you marry me?" and "I do."
Vocabulary lists containing betrothed
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Betrothed couples will be able to start getting marriage licenses again despite coronavirus shutdowns.
From Washington Times • Apr. 19, 2020
They learn about plague and contagion at school because two of the classics of Italy’s literary canon – Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed and Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron, deal with precisely those themes.
From The Guardian • Mar. 15, 2020
Betrothed Wiccan viewers scramble to rewrite their handfasting vows.
From Salon • Aug. 29, 2011
In Betrothed, the heroine Susan suddenly appears before the hero, a young scientist on the threshold of a brilliant career, to remind him of the vows of fidelity they had sworn as children.
From Time Magazine Archive
Betrothed to another man, she is by force carried away by Arminius from her father Segestes, Arminius's political adversary, the friend of the Romans.
From Women of the Teutonic Nations Woman: In all ages and in all countries Vol. 8 (of 10) by Schoenfeld, Hermann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
