wed
/ˈwɛd/verb
wed is spelled W-E-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, wed means “To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in wed?
| Letters | 3: W-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.6 times per million words; the 11,870th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is wed?
Wed appears 4.6 times per million words in written English, the 11,870th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce wed?
- /ˈwɛd/
Wed has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wed.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with wed?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as wed.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: dew.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of wed
- weds present, singular, he/she/it
- wedding participle, present
- wedded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wed mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony.
The priest wed the couple.
- 2
To take as one's spouse.
She wed her first love.
- 3
To take a spouse.
- 4
To take each other as a spouse.
They will wed in the summer.
- 5
To join or commit to, more or less permanently, as if in marriage.
I'm not wedded to this proposal; suggest an alternative.
- 6
To take to oneself and support; to espouse.
- 7
ScotlandTo wager, stake, bet, place a bet, make a wager.
I'd wed my head on that.
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of Wed..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wed in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | marier , épouser , mer. |
| German | trauen, verheiraten, vermählen , heiraten, zur Frau nehmen, zum Mann nehmen |
| Portuguese | casar , casar com , qua |
| Spanish | casar , casarse con , miér. , casarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does wed come from?
From Middle English wedden, weddien, from Old English weddian (“to pledge; wed”), from Proto-West Germanic *waddjōn, from Proto-Germanic *wadjōną (“to pledge”), from *wadją (“pledge”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wedʰ- (“to pledge”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).