Did you know?
A secondary meaning of Old English ealu, the ancestor of Modern English ale, was “feast, banquet,” at which the drinking of ale was a prominent activity. There were a number of these feasts and banquets that survived into the 19th century, but the oldest and best-established was the bride-ale, or wedding feast, attested in Old English as brydealu. In Middle English the ale half of the word had lost its stress and was associated with the noun suffix –al (as in funeral) and the adjective suffix (as in parental). By the 18^th^ century, bridal was perceived primarily as an adjective, as it is today.
Examples of bridal in a Sentence
Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2025
Among them is luxury diamond jewelry brand, Tacori, a Glendale, Calif., company that specializes in bridal and high-end fashion pieces.
—Anthony Demarco, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
Rachel Flynn, People.com, 3 Mar. 2025
Sanchez wasn’t the only celebrity to wear a white bridal gown to Vanity Fair’s Oscars Party 2025.
—Marissa Muller, WWD, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bridal
Cite this Entry
“Bridal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bridal. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share