English

The wedding of Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain, June 9th 1660

Verb

wedding

1. present participle of wed
   • 1885, Richard Francis Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 14,

     Accordingly the Prince, accepting her largesse, sought the King to whom he had pledged his parents (and they were still with him in all weal and welfare) and going in to him made his salam and kissed ground and told him the whole tale of the past and the conditions of death or marriage he had made with the King's daughter and of his wedding her after overcoming her in contention.

Noun

wedding ‎(plural weddings)

1. Marriage ceremony; ritual officially celebrating the beginning of a marriage.

   Her announcement was quite a surprise, coming a month after she published the words "I hate weddings with a passion and a fury I can only partially explain rationally."

   • 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Wedding-Day, in The Courtship of Miles Standish,

     Simple and brief was the wedding, as that of Ruth and of Boaz.

   • 1909, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea, Chapter XXIV,

     Rumor has it that there will be a wedding in our village ere the daisies are in bloom.

   • 1922, Anton Chekhov, Constance Garnett (translator), The Cook's Wedding, in The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories,

     After the wedding there was singing and concertina-playing in the laundry till late evening.

2. Joining of two or more parts.

   The wedding of our three companies took place last week.

   • 1900, Eve Emery Dye, McLoughlin and Old Oregon, 2005 facsimile edition, page 56,

     That wedding of the fur companies is historic.

   • 1991, Richard M. Merelman, Partial Visions: Culture and Politics in Britain, Canada, and the United States, page 162,

     Significantly, Grand Metropolitan elaborates upon the wedding of tradition and consumer narcissim that is the distinctively British version of private-sector collective representations; […] .

   • 2000, Benton E. Gup, New Financial Architecture: Banking Regulation in the 21st Century, page 221,

     The wedding of commercial with universal banking would result in more careful project evaluation and selection and a closer monitoring of existing loans.

   • 2002, Lynn Abbott, Doug Seroff, Out of Sight: The Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895, page 176,

     The wedding of black brass bands and orchestras to jubilee concert companies was a consolidation that favored both promoters and musicians.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Conversion of wedding (noun) to verb.

Verb

wedding ‎(third-person singular simple present weddings, present participle weddinging, simple past and past participle weddinged)

1. To participate in a wedding.
   • 1905, Hubert Garle; George Morland, Percy Fairclough, A driving tour in the Isle of Wight, page 116:

     "Snowball" was the name of this good steed, and great care had evidently been taken in her grooming to make her worthy of her name, her bridle being also gaily decked with coloured ribbons, for, as John said, when attending to these duties, "You don't go out a weddinging every day, do you, old gal?"

   • 1909, Daisy E. M. F. Campbell, “Miss Yin Yang, of Shanghai”, in The New England magazine, volume 40:

     "Where you goin' get weddinged?" she inquired one day. / "We shall be married at the Episcopal Church, Yin Yang,"

   • 1998 July 3, “NET-HAPPENINGS Digest”, in schl.news.nethappen, Usenet:

     Getting married is entirely different than getting weddinged.

   • 2002, Whitney Balliett, Collected Works: A Journal of Jazz 1954-2001, page 78:

     (In her private life this year, three of her children have been married, in quick succession, leaving her "weddinged out.")

   • 2010, Edward Anchel, Lost in Vegas:

     It was the most opportune time; I had my agenda and she had hers, and I suspected that she and Susan would be “weddinged” out by the time they got home

   • 2010 October 20, “Sideshow: Stop the press:...”, in Philadelphia Inquirer, The:

     Wasn't he the dude she weddinged with in her "Love All Over Me" vid? Sure was. . .

Usage notes

• Usually intended for a humorous effect.