Etymology

wedlock

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Today it means: The state of being married. Full definition →

Middle English wedlok ← Old English wedlāc
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromwedlāc“marriage vow, pledge, plighted troth, wedlock”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromwedlok
  3. English todaywedlock

From Middle English wedlok, wedlocke (“wedlock, marriage, matrimony”), from Old English wedlāc (“marriage vow, pledge, plighted troth, wedlock”). By surface analysis, wed + -lock.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.