hymeneal

American  

[hahy-muh-nee-uhl] / ˌhaɪ məˈni əl /

adjective

1. of or relating to marriage.

---

noun

1. Archaic. marriage song.

hymeneal British  

/ ˌhaɪmɛˈniːəl /

adjective

1. poetic of or relating to marriage

---

noun

1. a wedding song or poem

Other Word Forms

• unhymeneal adjective

Etymology

Origin of hymeneal

1595–1605; < Latin hymenae ( us ) (< Greek hyménaios wedding song, equivalent to Hymen Hymen + -aios pertaining to) + -al ¹

Example Sentences

This contribution of Swinburne's,—the hymeneal touch,—and Murray's discovery that the word God could be introduced with effect anywhere, went like wildfire over England.

From Atlantic Classics, Second Series by Addams, Jane

"You shall never—never—lead her to the hymeneal altar."

From A Book of Ghosts by Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)

Men will stand mateless, and the ruins of the hymeneal altars everywhere crumble mournfully away, and be known to tradition only by their vanishing inscriptions: "To the unknown god."

From History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III by Stanton, Elizabeth Cady

Between the pretensions of one man, the reluctance of another, and the hymeneal occupation of the leader the matter hobbled on very slowly.

From The Greville Memoirs A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV, Vol. III by Greville, Charles

Do you not recollect that eighteen years have run their circuit, since we pledged our mutual faith, and the hymeneal torch was lighted at the altar of love?

From Homes of American Statesmen With Anecdotical, Personal, and Descriptive Sketches by Various