Definitions for: Wedlock

[n] state of being husband and wife; "a long and happy marriage"; "God bless this union"

Webster (1913) Definition: 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.

Wed"lock, v. t.
To marry; to unite in marriage; to wed. [R.] ``Man thus
wedlocked.'' --Milton.

Synonyms: marriage, matrimony, union

See Also: bigamy, common-law marriage, endogamy, exogamy, inmarriage, intermarriage, marital status, marriage of convenience, misalliance, monandry, monogamousness, monogamy, monogyny, open marriage, polyandry, polygamy, polygyny

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