# What is a word for promised to be married? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412 "2004-01-28T14:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/1 "2004-01-28T14:08:42Z")
Other than promised of course… ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/2 "2004-01-28T14:11:28Z")
[Betroth](http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=betroth) is the word you seek. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/3 "2004-01-28T14:11:56Z")
“Engaged,” of course. But I think the word you’re looking for is “betrothed” – which means, in essence, that the person spoken of has undertaken vows to be married at a future date. ---
**Author:** ![gleeb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f14d63/32.png) [@gleeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gleeb)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/4 "2004-01-28T14:12:19Z")
Affianced? ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Barber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Art\_Barber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Barber)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/5 "2004-01-28T14:13:27Z")
_betrothed_ Art ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/6 "2004-01-28T14:16:11Z")
Isn’t betrothed more of engaged? I’m thinking of more along the lines of when parents arrange for their children to be married down the road. Like in Chinese or Indian cultures. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/7 "2004-01-28T14:40:20Z")
Would espoused since childhood work? Commited by their families to wed? I can’t think of any term in English that makes the distinction that you need. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/8 "2004-01-28T14:48:05Z")
When parents arrange their children’s marriage, it’s usually called an _arranged marriage_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/9 "2004-01-28T14:51:50Z")
maybe promised would be a good term for the situation you describe ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/10 "2004-01-28T14:53:01Z")
How about promised? Or spoken for? I think both of those are vague enough to work for an arranged marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/11 "2004-01-28T15:17:15Z")
**affiance** transitive verb: to solemnly promise (oneself or another) in marriage from the good folks at [Merriam-Webster Online](http://www.webster.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Phage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@Phage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phage)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/12 "2004-01-28T15:49:47Z")
Doomed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/13 "2004-01-28T17:50:58Z")
[Bespoke](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bespoke), or bespoken is sometimes used in the context of arranges marriages. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/14 "2004-01-28T18:26:05Z")
> [@Papermache Prince](#): > > **affiance** > transitive verb: to solemnly promise (oneself or another) in marriage > > from the good folks at [Merriam-Webster Online](http://www.webster.com/) Hey, **Papermache Prince** , here are two more words for you to look up… **verb** ( as in _engage_, or _betroth_ ) and **past participial adjective** ( as in _engaged_, or _betrothed_, or _promised_… or, yes, _doomed_, _screwed_, _caught_, _shackled_, _hooked_, _set to be wed_, _banned_… ). ---
**Author:** ![ReBusEniGma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@ReBusEniGma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReBusEniGma)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/15 "2004-01-28T23:23:50Z")
> [@cainxinth](#): > > Other than promised of course… I thought of betrothed too… but would ‘pledged’ work? “X and Y are pledged to be married.” It doesn’t sound as formal as _engaged_, yet doesn’t have the sound of permanence as _betrothed_. ---
**Author:** ![Quint\_Essence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/54ee81/32.png) [@Quint\_Essence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint_Essence)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/16 "2004-01-29T00:49:47Z")
intended? Pledged? ---
**Author:** ![Shyabrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@Shyabrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shyabrick)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-word-for-promised-to-be-married/226412/17 "2004-01-29T06:09:31Z")
Perhaps “doomed” might be appropriate.