engagement ring

American  

noun

engagement rings plural

1. a ring, often a diamond, given by a man to his fiancée at the time of their engagement as a token of their betrothal.

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engagement ring British  

noun

1. a ring given by a man to a woman as a token of their betrothal

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• engagement rings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of engagement ring

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

When Kelley Long’s roughly two-year marriage ended, she fought to keep her diamond engagement ring, which she estimates cost $10,000.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

He urged her to name the child after his brother if he was a boy, she says, and returned from a trip back to the UK with an engagement ring.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

“He was like a knight in shining armor,” says Megan Snyders, 33, a British children’s book illustrator who watched Manguillier search for her friend Olivia Tysoe’s engagement ring.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

Natalie's mother Bernadette told Belfast Crown Court that McCullagh had showed her an engagement ring after her death.

From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026

Mom had given Charlie her engagement ring, which was a family heirloom, but remodeling the baby’s room meant he was also broke.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson