Wedlock \Wed"lock\, n. [AS. wedl[=a]c a pledge, be trothal; wedd
a pledge + l[=a]c a gift, an offering. See Wed, n., and cf.
Lake, v. i., Knowledge.]
1. The ceremony, or the state, of marriage; matrimony. ``That
blissful yoke . . . that men clepeth [call] spousal, or
wedlock.'' --Chaucer.
For what is wedlock forced but a hell, An age of
discord or continual strife? --Shak.
2. A wife; a married woman. [Obs.]
--B. Jonson.
Syn: See Marriage.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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