Betrothal comes before engagement. It once implied the agreement between the
families, often from a young age, for an arranged marriage when an 'engagement'
was not part of the process unless it was in the final part of the process,
often years later, when dates had been arranged and the ceremonials booked. I
imagine that the Amish might still use the term in your neck of the woods and
the 'engagement' step may be skipped.
Later it became almost synonymous with 'engaged'. especially in cultures where
arranged marriages were not the norm. It was seen as a charming anachronism.
But I did share a staffroom at one point with a Greek woman and went through
the stages of betrothal, engagement and marriage there - this involved
extravagant parties, ostentatious expenditure and a lot of bad photography (the
snaps and left over cake made an appearance at work and required fulsome
praise). I got out of there before the first child, to my relief.
In that case, betrothal was an agreement to marry (that we'd call engagement),
followed by a much more formal 'engagement' process which involved family
meetings, approvals and jewellery - lots of jewellery - 18kt minimum.
The dictionary seems a bit thin in the face of that lot, no?
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.soultheft.com
Author/Publisher: The SLR Compendium - http://www.blurb.com/books/4628309 or
http://blur.by/19Hb8or
On 30/10/2013, at 2:09 PM, Moose wrote:
> On 10/29/2013 7:26 PM, Ken Norton wrote:
>>> I'll believe it when I see you wearing the ring.
>> Bethrothed implies "not married, not necessarily engaged".
>
> Maybe in your world. In the world of American English dictionary definitions:
>
> "be·trothed
> noun \bi-ˈtrōthd, -ˈtrȯtht\
>
> : the person that someone has promised to marry"
>
> "be·troth
>
> /transitive verb/ \bi-ˈtrō_th_, -ˈtrȯth, bē-\
> 1*:* to promise to marry
> 2*:* to give in marriage"
>
>> I reserve the right to dump this one just in case that other brand
>> produces something of interest.
>
> :-)
>
> Pedantic Moose
>
> --
> What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
> --
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