Meaning & use

betroth

verb·Advanced

To promise someone in marriage, typically as part of a formal agreement made by families.

See it in a sentence

The two families betrothed their children when the pair were still young.

She was betrothed to a nobleman she had never met before the wedding day.

A note on using this word

Now mostly literary or historical; modern English typically uses engaged instead of this older term.

Words with a similar meaning

engage

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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