Meanings
nounbride-ale (plural bride-ales)
plural bride-ales · alternative bridal
- Northern EnglandarchaicA rustic wedding feast
here was a bride-ale broke In the nick
1633 (first performance), Ben Jonson, “A Tale of a Tub. A Comedy […]”, in The Works of Beniamin Jonson, […] (Third Folio), London: […] Thomas Hodgkin, for H[enry] Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Bassett, R[ichard] Chiswell, M. Wotton, G. Conyers, published 1692, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)Synonyms: bridal
- Northern EnglandThe warmed, sweetened, and spiced ale presented to a wedding party on its return from church.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA rustic wedding feast
Similar
Origin
- Old Englishbrȳdealo“wedding feast”
- Middle Englishbrydale
- Englishbride-ale
From Middle English brydale, from Old English brȳdealo (“wedding feast”), equivalent to bride + ale.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
bride-ale. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bride-ale
MLA
“bride-ale.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bride-ale. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bride-ale,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bride-ale.
Source: bride-ale on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.