bride

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɹaɪd/ (UK); /bɹaɪd/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English brid, brude, inherited from Old English brȳd (“bride, betrothed woman”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *brūdiz,^[2][3][4] source also of Dutch bruid, German Braut and Old Norse brúðr,^[2][3] a word of uncertain or unknown origin, not found outside Germanic.^[3][4][2] Its Gothic cognate brūþs meant daughter-in-law, as did the forms borrowed into Medieval Latin and Old French.^[2][3] Since in ancient Indo-European custom the wife lived with her husband's family, the only newly wed woman in a household would be the daughter-in-law.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A woman newly married or about to be: about 725, in Beowulf.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Some trace the word to the PIE root *bʰrew-, which forms words for cooking and brewing.^[2] In the 15th and 16th centuries it could also mean a bridegroom or spouse.^[5] A girlfriend is slang from 1935.^[5] The bridegroom is Old English brȳdguma, from guma, man, later altered to match groom,^[6][4] and bridal is from Old English brȳdealu, wedding feast, literally bride-ale.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 725 – brȳd.^[3]
• c. 1440 – a bridegroom (obsolete).^[5]
• 16th century – bridemaid.^[4]
• 1935 – a girlfriend (slang).^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A woman who is about to be married or has just been married.

Word family

• brideless
• bridelike
• bridal
• bridegroom
• bridesmaid
• bride-price

Related words

• groom

Usage notes

MWU records a separate bride from French, literally a rein or bridle.^[7] In Shropshire dialect a bride was a disease causing stiff joints in pigs' feet.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)