English

A wedding party including three bridesmaids, ca. 1936

Noun

bridesmaid ‎(plural bridesmaids)

1. A woman who attends a bride during her wedding ceremony, as part of the main wedding party.

   I'd love to be your bridesmaid.

2. (sports, entertainment) A person or team who perennially finishes well, but never first.

Coordinate terms

• bridesman

Derived terms

• always a bridesmaid, never a bride

Translations

See also

• maid of honor the primary bridesmaid
• bridesmaids the group of women as a whole

Verb

bridesmaid ‎(third-person singular simple present bridesmaids, present participle bridesmaiding, simple past and past participle bridesmaided)

1. To act as a bridesmaid for; to attend a bride during her wedding ceremony.
   • 1858, Anthony Trollope, Doctor Thorne, Volume 1, page 83,

     "No, Trichy; I won't be Augusta's bridesmaid; I'll bide my time for bridesmaiding."

   • 1915, George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, The smart set: a magazine of cleverness, Volume 45, page 204,

     And what's this? that isn't Herbie Frost with you in the canoe ; why he was best man when I bridesmaided Corinne.

   • 1989, Kevin Killian, Shy, page 233,

     "It's in my Data-fax, right here! December Bride: and I'm supposed to bridesmaid!"

   • 2007, Siri Agrell, Bad Bridesmaid: True Tales of Bachelorette Brawls and Taffeta Tantrums, page 150,

     After ten years of friendship and just six months of lackluster bridesmaiding, the women did not even get an invitation to the wedding.

   • 2010, Mark Townsend, Jesus Outside the Box: Twelve Spiritual Tales of the Unexpected, page 308,

     Still they bridesmaided for her.

Translations