verb
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."
Vocabulary lists containing betroth
Novel Study: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Acts 4–5
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Blood Water Paint
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"Duty" by Pamela Rafael Berkman
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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.
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
To this they agreed, and the princess said, “If you will betroth me to the man sitting on the top of the mast of the vessel in the harbour, I shall immediately regain my health.”
From Santal Folk Tales by Campbell, A.
Two days later the Patriarch himself rejected Mar Gauriel's suit, saying, "It would be a shame for the House of Mar Shimun—it would be a shameful example to betroth so young a girl."
From Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume II (of 2) Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs by Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)
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.
