nuptials

nup·tials
N1U1P3T1I1A1L1S1
/ˈnʌp.ʃəlz//ˈnʌp.t͡ʃ(ʊ)əlz/

noun

A wedding ceremony.

Similar
weddingwedding ceremonyhymeneals
UncommonFirst used mid 16th c.Scrabble 10

Meanings

nounnuptials pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyA wedding ceremony.First known use mid 16th c.

    A Nimph is marryed to a Fay, Great preparations for the Day, All Rites of Nuptials they recite you, To the Brydall and inuite you.

    1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses Elizium, Lately diſcouered, by a New Way over Parnassvs, London: Thomas Harper, page 67
    5 more examples

    To Night, to Night, this fatal Moment, novv / Our dreadful Father's Nuptials are preparing, / And I muſt loſe bright Monima for ever.

    1678, Nat[haniel] Lee, Mithridates King of Pontus, a Tragedy: […], London: […] R[obert] E[veringham] for James Magnes and Rich[ard] Bentley, […], →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1

    I hope you will not think it is any manner of disrespect to your person or merit, that the intended nuptials between us are interrupted. My father says he has a much better offer for me than you can make, and has ordered me to break off the treaty between us.

    1712 March 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, February 25, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 310; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume IV, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 47

    [O]f five talents he had, gave two and a half in marriage with an only daughter he had of his own, and two and a half in marriage with the daughter of Eudamidas, and in one and the same day solemnized both their nupitals.

    1842, Michael de Montaigne [i.e., Michel de Montaigne]; [Antoine] Jay; [Abel-François] Villemain, “Of Friendship”, in [Charles] Cotton, transl., edited by William Hazlitt, The Works of Michael de Montaigne; Comprising; the Essays (Translated by Cotton); the Letters; the Journey into Germany and Italy; Now First Translated; a Life, by the Editor; Notes from All the Commentators; the Critical Opinions of Eminent Authors on Montaigne; the Élodies of MM. Jay and Villemain; a Bibliographical Notice of All the Editions; and Copious Indexes, London: John Templeman, 248, Regent Street, →OCLC, page 82, column 1

    This Sultan [Abdul Hamid II], who [Pierre] Loti always admired, had, according to the author, graciously and magnanimously permitted both women to choose their husbands. The cousins celebrated their nupitals together, and then moved into adjoining palaces which the Sultan had built for them.

    10th Turkish History Congress: Ankara, 22–26 September 1986: Reported to the Congress

    1990, X. Türk Tarih Kongresi: Ankara, 22–26 Eylül 1986: Kongreye Sunulan Bildiriler [10th Turkish History Congress: Ankara, 22–26 September 1986: Reported to the Congress] (Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları [Turkish Historical Society Publications]; 9, 10a), volume 2, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi [Turkish Historical Society Printing House], →ISBN, page 2318

    We got hitched many years back / […] / The rains were severe that day / and the wild winds inclement / but the nuptials still took place.

    2015, John Ngong Kum Ngong, “Nuptials at Vespers”, in Nuptials at Vespers & Other Strains: Poems, Mankon, Bamenda, Cameroon: Langaa Publishing & Research Common Initiative Group, →ISBN, page 7

    Synonyms: wedding

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA wedding ceremony.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performed

Similar
weddingwedding ceremonyhymeneals
Broader
ceremonyceremonialceremonial occasion

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sneubho-
  2. Latinnūptiālis“pertaining to marriage”
  3. Englishnuptials

From nuptial, borrowed from Latin nūptiālis (“pertaining to marriage”), from nūptiae (“wedding”) (also plural only), from nūpta, from nūbō (“to marry, to take as husband”), from Proto-Indo-European *sneubho-, *snewbʰ- (“to marry, wed”). Cognate with French noces and Italian nozze.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish häät
  • häätwedding ceremony — see also wedding
French noces
  • noceswedding ceremony — see also wedding
Hungarian nász
  • nászwedding ceremony — see also wedding
Italian nozze
  • nozzewedding ceremony — see also wedding
Persian سور
  • سور (sur)wedding ceremony — see also wedding
Polish zaślubiny, ślub
  • zaślubinywedding ceremony — see also wedding
  • ślubwedding ceremony — see also wedding
  • weselewedding ceremony — see also wedding
Portuguese núpcias
  • núpciaswedding ceremony — see also wedding
Russian бракосочета́ние
  • бракосочета́ние (brakosočetánije)wedding ceremony — see also wedding
Spanish nupcias
  • nupciaswedding ceremony — see also wedding
Swedish bröllop, vigsel
  • bröllopwedding ceremony — see also wedding
  • vigselwedding ceremony — see also wedding

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

nuptials. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nuptials

MLA

“nuptials.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nuptials. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nuptials,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nuptials.

Source: nuptials on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.