William and Kate are to marry!
November 17, 2010
Today we ask our beloved if he or she will marry us. But the language of betrothal and of being married has changed greatly over time. To find out just how much, use the Historical Thesaurus of the OED to search for historical synonyms for 'marry'. With the Thesaurus you'll find that people have wed since the 13th century, but over the centuries it could also have been: will you yoke (1595), espouse (1693), forgather (1717), or tie the knot with me (1768)?
