Bridal Comes From Bride-Ale, an Actual Party
Bridal means relating to a bride. It is not an adjective ending in -al but a compressed noun meaning wedding feast.
Bridal means relating to a bride or wedding. It looks like an adjective built with *-al*, but it is not: Old English *brydealu* meant bride-ale, the ale drunk at a wedding feast. The word was a noun for the celebration itself, and only later was it reanalysed as an adjective because the ending looked familiar.
- Relating to a bride or wedding. *Bridal gown.*
- Bridal party — the wedding attendants. *The bridal party arrived.*
- Bridal suite — a hotel room for newlyweds. *Booked the bridal suite.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective | bridal | Bridal wear. |
| Noun | bride | The bride arrived. |
| Compound | bridegroom | The bridegroom waited. |
| Compound | bridesmaid | Four bridesmaids. |
| Homophone | bridle | A horse's bridle. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The bridal shop is on the high street.Wedding clothes.
- A bridle path is for horses.Different word entirely.
- The bridal party posed for photographs.The attendants.
Wedding word origins
- Bridal — from bride-ale, the wedding feast
- Bridegroom — from Old English *guma*, a man; the R was added by confusion with groom
- Honeymoon — a month of sweetness, first recorded in the sixteenth century
- Wedding — from *weddian*, to pledge
- Spouse — from Latin *sponsus*, one who has promised
From Old English *brydealu*, bride-ale, from *bryd*, bride, and *ealu*, ale. The wedding feast gave its name to everything about the day.
Bridal or bridle?
Bridal relates to weddings. A bridle is the headgear that controls a horse. A bridle path takes the second one.
Why is it bridegroom and not bridegoom?
Old English had *brydguma*, bride-man. When *guma* fell out of use, speakers substituted the familiar word groom.