[Vocabulary] Wedded vs. Wed

[AutumnLeaf]

Greetings, teachers!

I’d like to know: wedded or wed, which one do you usually choose to use as the past participle of the verb wed?

I did an online search, and found a lot of wedded. Here are two examples:

Wedded at last, Oldfield and his new wife waved goodbye.

The man, who is wedded to Truth and worships Truth alone, proves unfaithful to her, if he applies his talents to anything else.

And also a lot of wed. Examples:

On 23 September 1945, at the same church in which she had wed six years earlier, Doris married Lionel Ingram.

She would have liked to have wed a Jewish boy, primarily for mother's sake, but fate had decreed otherwise.
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[SoothingDave]

It doesn't come up a lot.

I would probably use "wed" as a verb and "wedded" as an adjective.

 

[AutumnLeaf]

I would probably use "wed" as a verb and "wedded" as an adjective.

Hello Dave, thank you for your reply.

 

[Barb_D]

I would use "married" and "marry" instead of "wedded" and "wed."

 

[AutumnLeaf]

I would use "married" and "marry" instead of "wedded" and "wed."

Thanks for your reply, Barb.

If I substituted “married” for wedded in the below sentence (quoted from my OP), it would become “The man, who is married to Truth…”. The “married to Truth” part sounds a bit strange to my ear. What do you think of it?

The man, who is wedded to Truth and worships Truth alone, proves unfaithful to her, if he applies his talents to anything else.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Married to truth" is more natural than "wedded to truth."

We really don't talk about "wedded" other than in stock phrases like "wedded bliss."

 

[MikeNewYork]

Thanks for your reply, Barb.

If I substituted “married” for wedded in the below sentence (quoted from my OP), it would become “The man, who is married to Truth…”. The “married to Truth” part sounds a bit strange to my ear. What do you think of it?

I agree with you. I wouldn't use "married" to Truth. In that use, "wedded to" has a meaning different from "married to". It means closely attached to, devoted to, or firmly in support of.

 

[AutumnLeaf]

I wouldn't use "married" to Truth. In that use, "wedded to" has a meaning different from "married to". It means closely attached to, devoted to, or firmly in support of.

Thanks for your reply and explanation, Mike. I thought that be wedded to had a sense of “connection” (“be connected to”). Now I’ve known that it means more than that. Thank you.

But teachers, I’m now perplexed – all of you are native speakers of English, and two of you prefer “married”, while one likes “wedded” better in this case….


I tried to search for “married to Truth” on the internet; however, got a “married to religion”:

In the early seventeenth century, science was still married to religion.
(Source: Enemy Territory: The Christian Struggle For The Modern World, by Andrew Walker)

Would you say “wedded to religion” instead?

 

[Barb_D]

I can't think of a single use aside from stock phrases (like the above-mentioned "wedded-bliss) where "wedded" would be my choice over "married."

 

[MikeNewYork]

Thanks for your reply and explanation, Mike. I thought that be wedded to had a sense of “connection” (“be connected to”). Now I’ve known that it means more than that. Thank you.

But teachers, I’m now perplexed – all of you are native speakers of English, and two of you prefer “married”, while one likes “wedded” better in this case….


I tried to search for “married to Truth” on the internet; however, got a “married to religion”:

In the early seventeenth century, science was still married to religion.
(Source: Enemy Territory: The Christian Struggle For The Modern World, by Andrew Walker)

Would you say “wedded to religion” instead?

"Wedded to" ideas, beliefs, professions, etc. is relatively common. I don't understand the controversy.

 

[AutumnLeaf]

Thank you very much for your replies, Barb and Mike.

 

[Rover_KE]

Your appreciation is welcome, AutumnLeaf, but there is no need to write a new post to say thank you. Simply click the Like button on any posts you found helpful. It means that we don't have to open the thread again to read your new post and then find that it doesn't include any new information or an additional question.​