Weds

Weds is the third-person singular present tense of the verb wed, meaning to marry someone. It is used to indicate that two or more people are entering into a marriage and is typically found in formal, ceremonial, or journalistic contexts. In contemporary English, more common verbs for this action are marries or gets married, but weds remains correct and widely understood.

Etymology: The verb wed derives from Old English wedian or weddian, related to Proto-Germanic roots associated with pledge or betroth. The noun wedding comes from the same family of terms and has evolved separately to denote the ceremony and event of marrying.

Grammatical notes: Wed is transitive and takes a direct object, as in "The couple weds in a private ceremony." The simple past and past participle form can be wed, though wedded is also used, especially for emphasis or stylistic reasons. The passive form is "is/was wed," for example, "They were wed in a ceremony in 2010." The word is most commonly used in formal or literary styles; in everyday speech, settings often substitute "marries" or "gets married."

See also: wedding, marriage, wedlock, betrothal.