Wedlock (?), n. [AS. wedlāc a pledge, be trothal; wedd a pledge + lāc a gift, an offering. See Wed, n., and cf. Lake, v. i., Knowledge.]
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1. The ceremony, or the state, of marriage; matrimony. “That blissful yoke . . . that men clepeth [call] spousal, or wedlock.” Chaucer.
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For what is wedlock forced but a hell,
An age of discord or continual strife? Shak.
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2. A wife; a married woman. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
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Syn. -- See Marriage.
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