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START / NODE 711Present-Day English14th century–today
betroth
To promise in marriage; a Middle English prefixed formation built on the same historical noun that yielded truth and troth.
“To betroth is literally to bind someone by troth—the older truth of pledged fidelity—not merely to announce an engagement.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
EVERY REVIEWED PARENT, NOT ONE EDITORIAL PATH
FOLLOW EVERY BRANCH.
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01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Present-Day Englishbetroth
promise in marriage
↑GO DEEPER
Middle English · Middle Englishbitrouthenpromise or pledge in marriage
- SOUND CHANGE
- Modern betroth continues Middle English bitrouthen with regular English spelling and sound development.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- The marriage promise remains the specialized sense.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- CHRONOLOGY
- Merriam-Webster reports use in the fourteenth century.
2 CITATIONSBetroth — Definition, Word History, and First Known UseWord History and First Known Use Betroth — American Heritage DictionaryHeadword etymology AUDIT CANONICAL EDGE 694 ↗
Supplies the Middle English formation and fourteenth-century horizon.
ORIGINAL ↗Independently supplies Middle English bitrouthen.
ORIGINAL ↗THE ASTERISK IS A PROMISE
RECONSTRUCTION IS
NOT INSCRIPTION.
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