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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
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2026
Swift, meanwhile, stepped out with pals Ashley Avignone and Jerrod Carmichael on Wednesday, April 8, and was seen wearing an elegant look that appeared bridal-inspired as fans sleuth for details of the couple's upcoming ceremony.
—Natasha Dye, PEOPLE, 13 Apr. 2026
Kate Donovan, Martha Stewart, 17 Apr. 2026
Jordan is wearing bridal white, while Fleetwood is decked out in a weather-appropriate short-sleeve button-up, flashing a gold band on his ring finger.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bridal
Cite this Entry
“Bridal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bridal. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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