Meanings
nounbetrothal (countable and uncountable, plural betrothals)
plural betrothals
- countableuncountableThe act of betrothing.
formal betrothal
4 more examples
marriage betrothal
announce a betrothal
Their betrothal was announced in the local newspaper.
The play ends with a wedding after a long betrothal.
- countableuncountableThe fact of being betrothed; a mutual promise, engagement, or contract for a future marriage between two people.
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishbetroth
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishbetrothal
Translations
Arabic خِطْبَة, خُطُوبَة
- خِطْبَة (ḵiṭba)mutual promise
- خُطُوبَة (ḵuṭūba)mutual promise
Bulgarian годе́ж
- годе́ж (godéž)mutual promise
Chinese Mandarin 定親 /定亲, 婚約 /婚约
- 定親 /定亲 (dìngqīn)mutual promise
- 婚約 /婚约 (hūnyuē)mutual promise
Czech zasnoubení
- zasnoubenímutual promise
Danish forlovelse
- forlovelsemutual promise
Dutch verloving, ondertrouw
- verlovingmutual promise
- ondertrouwmutual promise
Estonian kihlus
- kihlusmutual promise
Finnish kihlaus, kihlautuminen
- kihlausmutual promise
- kihlautuminenmutual promise
French accordailles, fiançailles
- accordaillesmutual promise
- fiançaillesmutual promise
German Verlobung, Verlöbnis
- Verlobungmutual promise
- Verlöbnismutual promise
Greek αρραβώνας, αρραβώνιασμα
- αρραβώνας (arravónas)mutual promise
- αρραβώνιασμα (arravóniasma)mutual promise
Hindi वाग्दान, सगाई
- वाग्दान (vāgdān)mutual promise
- सगाई (sagāī)mutual promise
- मँगनी (maṅgnī)mutual promise
Hungarian eljegyzés
- eljegyzésmutual promise
Icelandic trúlofun, festar
- trúlofunmutual promise
- festarmutual promise
Irish cleamhnas
- cleamhnasmutual promise
Italian fidanzamento
- fidanzamentomutual promise
Japanese 婚約
- 婚約 (kon'yaku)mutual promise
Korean 약혼, 혼약
- 약혼 (yakhon)mutual promise
- 혼약 (honyak)mutual promise
Latin sponsālia
- sponsāliamutual promise
Latvian saderunāšana
- saderunāšanamutual promise
Lithuanian sužadėtuvės, susižadėjimas
- sužadėtuvėsmutual promise
- susižadėjimasmutual promise
Māori moumouranga
- moumourangamutual promise
Norwegian Bokmål forlovelse
- forlovelsemutual promise
Polish zaręczyny
- zaręczynymutual promise
Portuguese esponsais, noivado
- esponsaismutual promise
- noivadomutual promise
Romanian logodnă, logodire
- logodnămutual promise
- logodiremutual promise
Russian помо́лвка, обруче́ние
- помо́лвка (pomólvka)mutual promise
- обруче́ние (obručénije)mutual promise
Scottish Gaelic rèiteach
- rèiteachmutual promise
Slovak zasnúbenie
- zasnúbeniemutual promise
Spanish esponsales, palabra de matrimonio
- esponsalesmutual promise
- palabra de matrimoniomutual promise
- promesa de matrimoniomutual promise
- desposoriomutual promise
- desposoriosmutual promise
- desposamientomutual promise
Swedish förlovning
- förlovningmutual promise
Tagalog talimbuhol
- talimbuholmutual promise
Tamil நிச்சயதார்த்தம்
- நிச்சயதார்த்தம் (niccayatārttam)mutual promise
Thai การหมั้น
- การหมั้น (gaan-mân)mutual promise
Turkish nişan, nişanlanma
- nişanmutual promise
- nişanlanmamutual promise
Ukrainian зару́чини, обру́чення
- зару́чини (zarúčyny)mutual promise
- обру́чення (obrúčennja)mutual promise
Urdu مَن٘گْنی, سَگائی
- مَن٘گْنی (maṅgnī)mutual promise
- سَگائی (sagāī)mutual promise
Vietnamese hôn ước
- hôn ướcmutual promise
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
betrothal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/betrothal
MLA
“betrothal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/betrothal. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “betrothal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/betrothal.
Source: betrothal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.