Dictionary entry

Betroth

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Be‐troth″ (�), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Betrothed (�); p. pr. & vb. n.Betrothing.] [Pref. be- + troth, i.e., truth. See Truth.] 1. To contract to any one for a marriage; to engage or promise in order to marriage; to affiance; — used esp. of a woman.

He, in the first flower of my freshest age,

Betrothed me unto the only heir.

Spenser.

Ay, and we are betrothed.

Shak.

2. To promise to take (as a future spouse); to plight one's troth to.

What man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her?

Deut. xx. 7.

3. To nominate to a bishopric, in order to consecration. Ayliffe.