wedding
Americannoun
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the anniversary of a marriage, or its celebration.
They invited guests to their silver wedding.
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the act or an instance of blending or joining, especially opposite or contrasting elements.
a perfect wedding of conservatism and liberalism.
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Business Slang. a merger.
adjective
noun
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the act of marrying or the celebration of a marriage
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( as modifier )
wedding day
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the anniversary of a marriage (in such combinations as silver wedding or diamond wedding )
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the combination or blending of two separate elements
Synonym Usage
See marriage.
Etymology
Origin of wedding
First recorded before 900; Middle English “matrimony, wedlock, marriage,” Old English weddung “betrothal”; see origin at wed, -ing 1
Explanation
A wedding is a celebration or ceremony of marriage. Besides being a formal way to mark the union of two people, weddings can be a lot of fun too. The earliest meaning of wedding was simply "the state of being married," but by the early 1400s it meant the ceremony or rite at the very beginning of a marriage. A wedding can be a simple civil ceremony at City Hall or an elaborate event that takes place over several days and involves religious rituals, food and drink, and hundreds of guests. As an adjective, wedding describes anything related to the ceremony, like wedding cakes and wedding dresses.
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.
“If you scroll back to ‘Game of Thrones’ in the first two seasons, it wasn’t a massive Goliath success, and it exploded after Season 3 with the Red Wedding.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2026
They are also producing adaptations of The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory, and a drama set in the world of polo after making a docuseries about the sport.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
The novel was “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach, set in a hotel in Newport, R.I.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026
His sister, Molly Wedding, a lawyer for an insurer, lives in Indianapolis with her husband and three children.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026
In attendance upon him was Anteros, said sometimes to be the avenger of slighted love, sometimes the one who opposes love; also Himeros or Longing, and Hymen, the God of the Wedding Feast.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
