From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
wedding
n 1: the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is
performed [syn: wedding, wedding ceremony, nuptials,
hymeneals]
2: the act of marrying; the nuptial ceremony; "their marriage
was conducted in the chapel" [syn: marriage, wedding,
marriage ceremony]
3: a party of people at a wedding [syn: wedding, {wedding
party}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Wed \Wed\, v. t. [imp. Wedded; p. p. Wedded or Wed; p. pr.
& vb. n. Wedding.] [OE. wedden, AS. weddian to covenant,
promise, to wed, marry; akin to OFries. weddia to promise, D.
wedden to wager, to bet, G. wetten, Icel. ve[eth]ja, Dan.
vedde, Sw. v[aum]dja to appeal, Goth. gawadj[=o]n to betroth.
See Wed, n.]
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1. To take for husband or for wife by a formal ceremony; to
marry; to espouse.
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With this ring I thee wed. --Bk. of Com.
Prayer.
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I saw thee first, and wedded thee. --Milton.
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2. To join in marriage; to give in wedlock.
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And Adam, wedded to another Eve,
Shall live with her. --Milton.
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3. Fig.: To unite as if by the affections or the bond of
marriage; to attach firmly or indissolubly.
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Thou art wedded to calamity. --Shak.
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Men are wedded to their lusts. --Tillotson.
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[Flowers] are wedded thus, like beauty to old age.
--Cowper.
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4. To take to one's self and support; to espouse. [Obs.]
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They positively and concernedly wedded his cause.
--Clarendon.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Wedding \Wed"ding\, n. [AS. wedding.]
Nuptial ceremony; nuptial festivities; marriage; nuptials.
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Simple and brief was the wedding, as that of Ruth and
of Boaz. --Longfellow.
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Note: Certain anniversaries of an unbroken marriage have
received fanciful, and more or less appropriate, names.
Thus, the fifth anniversary is called the wooden
wedding; the tenth, the tin wedding; the fifteenth, the
crystal wedding; the twentieth, the china wedding; the
twenty-fifth, the silver wedding; the fiftieth, the
golden wedding; the sixtieth, the diamond wedding.
These anniversaries are often celebrated by appropriate
presents of wood, tin, china, silver, gold, etc., given
by friends.
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Note: Wedding is often used adjectively; as, wedding cake,
wedding cards, wedding clothes, wedding day, wedding
feast, wedding guest, wedding ring, etc.
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Let her beauty be her wedding dower. --Shak.
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Wedding favor, a marriage favor. See under Marriage.
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