Etymograph

English

wedding

Wedding comes from Old English weddung ‘betrothal, espousal’, from weddian ‘to pledge, to promise’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- ‘to bind’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-1‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wodʰ-yo-m1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wadją2‘wager’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wadjōną3‘to wager’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*waddjōn3‘to wager’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150weddian4‘to pledge’
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150weddung5‘betrothal’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wedding5
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1858wedding5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wadją
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wadjōną
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English weddian
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old English weddung
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English wedding
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Wedding-Day: “Simple and brief was the wedding, as that of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wedʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wadją‘to bind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wodʰ-yo-mWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wadjąreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wadjąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *wadjōną‘wager’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wadjōnąWiktionary, Old English weddian‘to wager’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*waddjōnWiktionary, Old English weddian‘to wager’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150weddianWiktionary, Old English weddung‘to pledge’
  7. Old Englishc. 450–1150weddungWiktionary, English wedding‘betrothal’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500weddingWiktionary, English wedding
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1858weddingWiktionary, English wedding. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1858, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Wedding-Day: “Simple and brief was the wedding, as that of…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with wedding, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- ‘to bind’

  • engagement ← engager ← engager ← engagier ← wadium
  • weed ← wēod ← *weud ← *wi-wdʰ-o-m
  • bahu ← बहू ← بَہُو ← वधू ← *wadʰúHs

through Proto-Germanic *wadją ‘wager’

  • wage ← gauge ← *waddī
  • engage ← engagen ← engagier ← gage ← *wadi
  • gage ← gager ← *waddi
  • wedlock ← wedlok ← wedlāc ← wedd ← *wadi

through Old English weddian ‘to pledge, to promise’

8 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A marriage ceremony; a ritual officially celebrating the beginning of a marriage.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “wedding”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *wadją, Proto-Germanic *wadjōną, Old English weddian, Old English weddung. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- / wedding