betroth

American  

[bih-trohth, -trawth] / bɪˈtroʊð, -ˈtrɔθ /

verb (used with object)

• betroths,
  present (3rd person singular)
• betrothed,
  past participle,  past
• betrothing
  present participle

1. to arrange for the marriage of; affiance (usually used in passive constructions).

   The couple was betrothed with the approval of both families.

   Synonyms:

   plight, pledge, promise, engage

2. Archaic. to promise to marry.

---

betroth British  

/ bɪˈtrəʊð /

verb

1. archaic (tr) to promise to marry or to give in marriage

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• betrothing
  present
• betrothed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• betroth
  simple
• betroths
  simple
• have betrothed
  perfect
• has betrothed
  perfect
• am betrothing
  progressive
• are betrothing
  progressive
• is betrothing
  progressive
• have been betrothing
  perfect progressive
• has been betrothing
  perfect progressive

Past

• betrothed
  simple
• had betrothed
  perfect
• was betrothing
  progressive
• were betrothing
  progressive
• had been betrothing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will betroth
  simple
• will have betrothed
  perfect
• will be betrothing
  progressive
• will have been betrothing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of betroth

1275–1325; Middle English betrouthe, variant of betreuthe ( be- be- + treuthe truth; see troth)

Explanation

The verb betroth means to give to in marriage. In the really olden days, your parents might betroth you to someone you barely knew and you'd be expected to marry this virtual stranger. Since arranged marriages are becoming more rare, betroth has taken on the more general meaning of pledging to be married. If your boyfriend says, "Want to get hitched?" and you say, "Excellent idea!" then you are betrothed. Betroth is from the Middle English word betreuthe, which itself is from the roots bi-, meaning "thoroughly," and trowthe, meaning "truth" or "pledge."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

betroth betroths betrothed betrothing

Following her death from tuberculosis in 1847, he planned to betroth his first love, Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton, in the same city.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2022

The most important decisions you make in this game are not military, but about to whom to betroth your children.

From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2012

Intoned the bride's father: "I betroth to Your Majesty my daughter, Farida."

From Time Magazine Archive

"And I betroth thee to Me for eternity; and I betroth thee to Me in righteousness and judgment, and in loving-kindness and mercy."

From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, Vol. 1 by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg

And I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies.

From A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse by Sylvester Bliss

Uncle Starodúm makes acquaintance with Mílon, whose good qualities he has learned through an old friend, and betroths him to Sophia.

From A Survey of Russian Literature, with Selections by Isabel Florence Hapgood

Love betroths to itself wisdom by preparing for it a house or bridal chamber, and marries it by conjoining it to itself by affections, and afterwards lives wisely with it in that house.

From Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom by John Ager

Before she has time to complete her arrangements, however, Buondelmonte betroths himself to a daughter of the house of Amidei.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 01, November, 1857 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

If a man says to a woman, "Thou art betrothed to me after thirty days," and in the interim another comes and betroths her, she is the second suitor's.

From Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala by Various

From that conjunction it can be seen how love or the will betroths to itself wisdom or the understanding, and afterwards weds it, that is, enters into a kind of marriage with it.

From Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom by John Ager

The two formidable women in Cal’s life—Lena, his betrothed, and Trey, his teenage protégée—suspect that Rachel was silenced.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Day trader Alex Henderson confuses his betrothed Ashley Carpenter with a shifting backstory involving frequent moves and overlapping dating histories, all attributed to his “nomadic lifestyle.”

From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026

You’ve surely seen these pictures: The newly betrothed couple walking back down the aisle, the bride and groom graciously taking in their champagne toasts, a few dizzying iPhone videos from a crowded dance floor.

From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2024

The betrothed Brits weren’t the only musicians feeling the love Tuesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2023

"And you, dog, away with you, you're scaring my betrothed."

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

And the third, by the parties coming together, and living as husband and wife; which might as properly be called marriage as betrothing.

From Sketches of the Fair Sex, in All Parts of the World by Anonymous

Only three years ago, when your Majesty's father was alive, there was some talk of peace and of betrothing you to her, and that was when her portrait was sent here.

From Europa's Fairy Book by John Dickson Batten

The state of betrothing may be compared to the state of spring before summer; and the internal pleasantness of that state to the flowering of trees before fructification.

From The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love by Emanuel Swedenborg

But I ain't stuck up—not I. I do you the honor, Professor Smith, the very great honor of betrothing to you my and Vesta Van Warden's daughter.

From The Scarlet Plague by Gordon Grant

X. When the time of betrothing is completed, the nuptials ought to take place.

From The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love by Emanuel Swedenborg