Meanings
bride1
plural brides
- A woman in the context of her own wedding; one who is going to marry or has just been married.
I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 21:92 more examples
Has by his own experience tried How much the wife is dearer than the bride.
1746, George Lyttelton, An Irregular OdeSophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.
1921, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC - figurativelyobsoleteAn object ardently loved.
present singular third person brides · participle present briding · participle past brided · past brided
- obsoleteto make a bride of
bride2
plural brides
- an individual loop or other device connecting the patterns in lacework
Bride3
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
bride · noun, verb
- Proto-Germanic*brūdiz“bride”
- Proto-West Germanic*brūdi
- Old Englishbrȳd“bride”
- Middle Englishbride
- Englishbride
From Middle English bride, from Old English brȳd (“bride”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūdi, from Proto-Germanic *brūdiz (“bride”). Cognates Cognate with Yola breede (“bride”), Saterland Frisian Bräid (“bride”), Alemannic German Bruut (“bride”), Central Franconian Brock, Brutt, Bruut (“bride”), Dutch bruid (“bride”), German and Luxembourgish Braut (“bride”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish brud (“bride”), Faroese and Icelandic brúður (“bride”), Norwegian Nynorsk brud, brur (“bride”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌸𐍃 (bruþs, “bride”), French bru (“daughter-in-law”), Friulian brût (“daughter-in-law”) (from Old High German brut (“bride”)).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →bride · noun
- Frenchbride“bridle”
- Englishbride
Borrowed from French bride (“bridle”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Bride · proper noun
* As an Irish and Scottish surname, shortened from McBride. * As an English surname, metathesized from Bird.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans bruid
- bruidwoman in the context of her own wedding
Ancient Greek νύμφη
- νύμφη (númphē)woman in the context of her own wedding
Arabic عَرُوس
- عَرُوس (ʕarūs)woman in the context of her own wedding
Bengali বধূ
- বধূ (bodhu)woman in the context of her own wedding
Bulgarian бу́лка, младоже́нка
- бу́лка (búlka)woman in the context of her own wedding
- младоже́нка (mladožénka)woman in the context of her own wedding
- годени́ца (godeníca)woman in the context of her own wedding
- неве́ста (nevésta)woman in the context of her own wedding
- невя́ста (nevjásta)woman in the context of her own wedding
Catalan núvia
- núviawoman in the context of her own wedding
Chinese Cantonese 新娘
- 新娘woman in the context of her own wedding
Chinese Mandarin 新娘, 新婦 /新妇
- 新娘 (xīnniáng)woman in the context of her own wedding
- 新婦 /新妇 (xīnfù)woman in the context of her own wedding
- 新娘子 (xīnniángzi)woman in the context of her own wedding
- 新媳婦兒 /新媳妇儿 (xīnxífur)woman in the context of her own wedding
Czech nevěsta
- nevěstawoman in the context of her own wedding
Danish brud
- brudwoman in the context of her own wedding
Dutch bruid
- bruidwoman in the context of her own wedding
Esperanto novedzino
- novedzinowoman in the context of her own wedding
Estonian pruut
- pruutwoman in the context of her own wedding
Finnish morsian
- morsianwoman in the context of her own wedding
French mariée
- mariéewoman in the context of her own wedding
German Braut
- Brautwoman in the context of her own wedding
Greek νύφη, νύμφα
- νύφη (nýfi)woman in the context of her own wedding
- νύμφα (númpha)woman in the context of her own wedding
Hebrew כַּלָּה
- כַּלָּה (kalá)woman in the context of her own wedding
Hindi दुल्हन, नवोढा
- दुल्हन (dulhan)woman in the context of her own wedding
- नवोढा (navoḍhā)woman in the context of her own wedding
- नववधू (navavdhū)woman in the context of her own wedding
- वधू (vadhū)woman in the context of her own wedding
- अरूस (arūs)woman in the context of her own wedding
Hungarian menyasszony, ara
- menyasszonywoman in the context of her own wedding
- arawoman in the context of her own wedding
Icelandic brúður
- brúðurwoman in the context of her own wedding
Indonesian pengantin, pengantin perempuan
- pengantinwoman in the context of her own wedding
- pengantin perempuanwoman in the context of her own wedding
Irish brídeach
- brídeachwoman in the context of her own wedding
Italian fidanzata, sposa
- fidanzatawoman in the context of her own wedding
- sposawoman in the context of her own wedding
Japanese 花嫁, 新婦
- 花嫁 (hanayome)woman in the context of her own wedding
- 新婦 (shinpu)woman in the context of her own wedding
- 嫁 (yome)woman in the context of her own wedding
Korean 신부
- 신부 (sinbu)woman in the context of her own wedding
Latin nūpta
- nūptawoman in the context of her own wedding
Latvian līgava
- līgavawoman in the context of her own wedding
Lithuanian nuotaka
- nuotakawoman in the context of her own wedding
Malay pengantin perempuan
- pengantin perempuanwoman in the context of her own wedding
Māori wahine mārena
- wahine mārenawoman in the context of her own wedding
Norwegian Bokmål brud
- brudwoman in the context of her own wedding
Polish panna młoda, młoda
- panna młodawoman in the context of her own wedding
- młodawoman in the context of her own wedding
- oblubienicawoman in the context of her own wedding
- niewiastawoman in the context of her own wedding
Portuguese noiva
- noivawoman in the context of her own wedding
Romanian nevastă, mireasă
- nevastăwoman in the context of her own wedding
- mireasăwoman in the context of her own wedding
Russian неве́ста, новобра́чная
- неве́ста (nevésta)woman in the context of her own wedding
- новобра́чная (novobráčnaja)woman in the context of her own wedding
- молода́я (molodája)woman in the context of her own wedding
Scottish Gaelic bean na bainnse, bean nuadh-phòsda
- bean na bainnsewoman in the context of her own wedding
- bean nuadh-phòsdawoman in the context of her own wedding
Slovak nevesta
- nevestawoman in the context of her own wedding
Spanish novia
- noviawoman in the context of her own wedding
Swahili biarusi, biharusi
- biarusiwoman in the context of her own wedding
- biharusiwoman in the context of her own wedding
Swedish brud
- brudwoman in the context of her own wedding
Tamil மணப்பெண்
- மணப்பெண் (maṇappeṇ)woman in the context of her own wedding
Thai เจ้าสาว
- เจ้าสาว (jâo-sǎao)woman in the context of her own wedding
Turkish gelin
- gelinwoman in the context of her own wedding
Ukrainian наре́чена, молода́
- наре́чена (naréčena)woman in the context of her own wedding
- молода́ (molodá)woman in the context of her own wedding
- неві́ста (nevísta)woman in the context of her own wedding
- зару́чена (zarúčena)woman in the context of her own wedding
Urdu دُلْہَن, عَرُوس
- دُلْہَن (dulhan)woman in the context of her own wedding
- عَرُوس ('arūs)woman in the context of her own wedding
Vietnamese cô dâu
- cô dâuwoman in the context of her own wedding
Welsh priodferch
- priodferchwoman in the context of her own wedding
Yiddish כּלה, קאַלע
- כּלה (kale)woman in the context of her own wedding
- קאַלע (kale)woman in the context of her own wedding
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bride
Anagrams
Cite this entry
bride. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bride
“bride.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bride. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bride,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bride.
Source: bride on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.