wedding
Americannoun
-
the anniversary of a marriage, or its celebration.
They invited guests to their silver wedding.
-
the act or an instance of blending or joining, especially opposite or contrasting elements.
a perfect wedding of conservatism and liberalism.
-
Business Slang. a merger.
adjective
noun
-
-
the act of marrying or the celebration of a marriage
-
( as modifier )
wedding day
-
-
the anniversary of a marriage (in such combinations as silver wedding or diamond wedding )
-
the combination or blending of two separate elements
Synonym Usage
See marriage.
Etymology
Origin of wedding
First recorded before 900; Middle English “matrimony, wedlock, marriage,” Old English weddung “betrothal”; see origin at wed, -ing 1
Explanation
A wedding is a celebration or ceremony of marriage. Besides being a formal way to mark the union of two people, weddings can be a lot of fun too. The earliest meaning of wedding was simply "the state of being married," but by the early 1400s it meant the ceremony or rite at the very beginning of a marriage. A wedding can be a simple civil ceremony at City Hall or an elaborate event that takes place over several days and involves religious rituals, food and drink, and hundreds of guests. As an adjective, wedding describes anything related to the ceremony, like wedding cakes and wedding dresses.
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.
Does it make you a bad wedding guest to get engaged during the reception?
From Slate • Jun. 15, 2026
One widely used approach defines microplastics as any fragment of plastic that is less than 5mm - about the width of a wedding band.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
Days before his wedding, New York Knicks superfan Kevin Kelly sent his group-chat guidelines for their attendance: watching the NBA Finals during the reception will not be sanctioned.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
The couple were looking forward to celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary this month.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
He had acted silly even at his own wedding, grinning during the solemnities, clowning when cutting the cake.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
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.
