wed
verb (used with object)
to marry (another person) in a formal ceremony.
Trivia Time
Where did Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer wed in 1981?
wed
1 American
[wed]
/ wɛd /
verb (used with object)
-
weds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wed,
past participle, past
-
wedded,
past participle, past
-
wedding
present participle
-
to marry (another person) in a formal ceremony.
-
to unite (a couple) in marriage or wedlock; marry.
-
to bind by close or lasting ties; attach firmly.
She wedded herself to the cause of economic justice.
-
to blend together or unite inseparably.
a novel that weds style and content perfectly.
verb (used without object)
-
weds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wed,
past participle, past
-
wedded,
past participle, past
-
wedding
present participle
-
to contract marriage; marry.
-
to become united or to blend.
a building that will wed with the landscape.
we'd
2
American
[weed]
/ wid /
-
contraction of we had:
Sometimes I wish we'd bought a bigger house.
-
contraction of we would:
Of course we'd be happy to donate to the school's fundraiser.
Wed.
3
American
abbreviation
wed
1
British
/ wɛd /
verb
-
to take (a person of the opposite sex) as a husband or wife; marry
-
(tr) to join (two people) in matrimony
-
(tr) to unite closely
Wed.
2
British
abbreviation
we'd
3
British
/ wɪd, wiːd /
contraction
Usage
See contraction.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wedsimple
-
wedssimple
-
have wedperfect
-
have weddedperfect
-
has wedperfect
-
has weddedperfect
-
am weddingprogressive
-
are weddingprogressive
-
is weddingprogressive
-
have been weddingperfect progressive
-
has been weddingperfect progressive
Past
-
wedsimple
-
weddedsimple
-
had wedperfect
-
had weddedperfect
-
was weddingprogressive
-
were weddingprogressive
-
had been weddingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wed
First recorded before 900; Middle English wedde, Old English weddian “to pledge, marry, get married”; cognate with German wetten “to bet,” Old Norse vethja “to pledge”
Explanation
To wed is to get married to someone. Your dream might be to wed your dream spouse in Hawaii some day. The verb wed is mainly used in a formal context — marry is more common. You can also use either word to mean "join in marriage" or "perform a marriage ceremony," like when the Archbishop of Canterbury weds members of British royalty. Wed shares a Germanic root with words in various languages meaning "pledge," but also "bet or wager."
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.
See Examples For:
Brittany Bee was wed to a man when she was a teen.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
He was previously married to his “Dumb and Dumber” co-star Lauren Holly from 1996 to 1997 and before that wed to actor Melissa Womer from 1987 to 1995.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The 34-year-old singer and actress purchased the six-bedroom, 8.5-bathroom dwelling for $4.89 million in 2020, around three years before she began dating Benny Blanco, 38, whom she wed in September 2025.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
The problem is, the brand—and, to some extent, its management—is wed to a specific kind of go power: the charismatic flat-four engine and mechanically linked all-wheel drive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
It aint that we was so much apantin to fite, wed had aplenty of fitin.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
Death and taxes might be certain, but so are mistakes and regret, no matter how much we’d like to believe that we’re big enough to let go.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
Our trajectory remained unaltered, we’d simply continued to travel in that direction.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2026
While many will welcome the extra sleep, others may have hoped we’d have seen an end to this twice-annual clock changing practice by now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
"To have the results come back... and for them to say that there's no active neuroblastoma cells, it was Christmas come early. It was everything that we'd hoped for for so long," said Sarah.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
I don’t know what we’d do without him.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
“The US Supreme Court began hearing the Brunson case yesterday Wed. 21 June, continued today 22 June and should have a decision out by Saturday 24 June,” an Instagram post states.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 30, 2023
Intended to cure loneliness on Wed. evenings and to allow people to get to know each other under circumstances other than formal MFU course.
From Salon ● May 12, 2019
"All schools in Wetzel County will be closed on Wed. Feb. 28, 2018, due to the stars beginning to align," the district announced, cryptically, on the state department of education's website.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2018
Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Wed. through June 25, various times and prices.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 16, 2016
Viewing will be at Snowberger’s at 7pm on Wed. evening, and visitation will be at 2pm before the funeral at 3pm on Thurs.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
Wedding photographer Michael Carver had wanted to capture a picture of newly weds with the Northern Lights for the last 10 years.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2023
While Dbeibah has sought to consolidate his position with new roads, better power supplies or social benefits such as payouts to newly weds, faction leaders have complained about corruption in state spending.
From Reuters ● Aug. 17, 2023
Throughout “Saxophone Colossus,” he weds his extensive research to a feel for detail and narrative; the book is certainly long, but it has too much great reporting to be dry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2022
Martin's "Fire & Blood," Alicent is 18 when she weds the 27-year-old Viserys, while Rhaenyra is only 9.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2022
"I love you as much as I ever have, my lord. Though I do not relish being played for a fool. If Myrcella weds Trystane Martell, she can scarcely wed Robert Arryn, can she?"
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
They earn more than four times the average worker—the most seasoned pilots earn far more—but they have little control over the management of the company they have wedded themselves to.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
“Our customers are wedded to the strategy of buying dips, and that’s worked very well for them. But if you do that indiscriminately, at some point, you can morph from dip-buyer to bag-holder,” Sosnick said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
“I’m not wedded to a high school player or a college player,” Mozeliak said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Yes, he was so wedded to it, this idea that different, new mediums liberate the ones that come before.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Colin Vole tittered aloud and remarked rather foolishly, “Ooh, would you look at Matthias an’ Cornflower there, a-nursin’ those two babbies like they was an old wedded couple.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
The episode was watched by about 12.3m people on Christmas day and saw Hartland's character serenade the crowd at the wedding of his on-screen dad Smithy, played by James Cordon.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
News of the Qualley-Antonoff split arose days after the latter was spotted attending Swift and Travis Kelce’s lavish wedding bash at New York City’s Madison Square Garden without his wife.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
"I felt really happy we finally did it," Sinèad said of her wedding, and that she "was able to relax after seeing my Dad."
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
A royal wedding in Paris in the summer of 1572 was meant to ease tensions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
“It’s important,” I started, noticing the deep-set lines on her ring finger where her wedding band used to sit.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
