Hypertext Webster Gateway: "wedlock"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wedlock \Wed"lock\, n. [AS. wedl[=a]c a pledge, be trothal; wedd
a pledge + l[=a]c a gift, an offering. See {Wed}, n., and cf.
{Lake}, v. i., {Knowledge}.]
1. The ceremony, or the state, of marriage; matrimony. ``That
blissful yoke . . . that men clepeth [call] spousal, or
wedlock.'' --Chaucer.
For what is wedlock forced but a hell, An age of
discord or continual strife? --Shak.
2. A wife; a married woman. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.
Syn: See {Marriage}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wedlock \Wed"lock\, v. t.
To marry; to unite in marriage; to wed. [R.] ``Man thus
wedlocked.'' --Milton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
wedlock
n : state of being husband and wife; "a long and happy
marriage"; "God bless this union" [syn: {marriage}, {matrimony},
{union}]
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