Bridal Comes From Bride-Ale, a Wedding Feast
A bride is a woman on her wedding day. Bridal is not an adjective in origin — it comes from bride-ale, the ale drunk at the wedding.
A bride is a woman at her wedding. *Bridal* looks like an ordinary adjective and is not: Old English *brydealu* meant bride-ale, the wedding feast at which ale was drunk. The word was reinterpreted as an adjective only because the ending resembled *-al*. *Bridegroom* hides a similar accident: the second half is *guma*, an Old English word for man, misheard as *groom*.
- A woman at her wedding. *The bride wore blue.*
- Bridegroom — the man. *The bridegroom's speech.*
- Bridal — of a wedding. *A bridal gown.*
- Bridesmaid — an attendant. *Three bridesmaids.*
- Bride-ale — the original wedding feast. *The bride-ale lasted days.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | bride | A radiant bride. |
| Plural | brides | Two brides. |
| Adjective | bridal | Bridal wear. |
| Compound | bridegroom | The bridegroom. |
| Old English | guma | A man. |
- The bride arrived twenty minutes late.Weddings.
- Bridal comes from bride-ale.Etymology.
- Bridegroom contains an old word for man.Not a stable hand.
Wedding words and their origins
- Bridal — bride-ale, the wedding feast
- Bridegroom — bride plus *guma*, man, reshaped as groom
- Wedding — from *wed*, a pledge or security
- Honeymoon — first recorded in the 1500s, with the moon suggesting waning
- Spouse — from Latin for one who has promised
Old English *bryd*, from a Proto-Germanic root. *Bridal* is from *brydealu*, bride-ale, later mistaken for an adjective.
Why is it called a bridegroom?
The second element was Old English guma, meaning man. When that word died out, speakers replaced it with the familiar groom.
Is bridal an adjective?
It functions as one now, but it began as a noun meaning the wedding feast: bride-ale.