Meanings
plural bridesmen · alternative brideman · alternative bride's-man · alternative best maid
- A male friend or companion of the bridegroom, having various ceremonial duties at a wedding.
According to him, on the following Thursday, the bridesmen, numbering “six, eight, even ten or more,” rode on horseback with four wagons to get the bride.
2005, Susan Karant-Nunn, The Reformation of Ritual, page 261 more example
It was customary, in those days, for the bride's-man and maiden, and a few select friends, to visit the newly married couple after they had retired to rest […].
1824, James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Oxford, published 2010, page 7 - A male bridesmaid; a man who attends a bride during her wedding ceremony, as part of the wedding party.
She might be renting a tux, however, as she is willing to have a bridesman.
2008 June 26, Katie Zezima, “Bride-to-Be Takes a Chance on eBay for a Bidding Bridesmaid”, in New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From bride + -s- + man, by alteration of earlier brideman; compare bridesmaid.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish sulhaspoika, sulhaspoika
- sulhaspoikamale friend or companion of the bridegroom
- sulhaspoikamale bridesmaid
German Brautführer, Brautführer
- Brautführermale friend or companion of the bridegroom
- Brautführermale bridesmaid
Russian поджени́шник
- поджени́шник (podženíšnik)male friend or companion of the bridegroom
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
bridesman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridesman
“bridesman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridesman. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bridesman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bridesman.
Source: bridesman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.