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Definition of wedlock
out of wedlock
: with the natural parents not legally married to each other
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Examples of wedlock in a Sentence
joined the happy couple in holy wedlock
Recent Examples of wedlock from the Web
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Fewer than one in 10 kids were born out of wedlock; now it’s four in 10.
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The proportion of out-of-wedlock births varied a great deal according to race and ethnicity.
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Given their 12-year age difference, intercourse outside of wedlock would have been considered statutory rape.
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Many stigmas, like pre-marital sex or having children out of wedlock, are quickly disappearing.
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Today, 40 percent of children are born out of wedlock, up from 5 percent in 1960.
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He was born out of wedlock to the dictator’s elder son, Yakov Dzhugashvili (Stalin’s original name).
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In 2015, Irish voters backed a proposal to allow gay marriage by almost a 2-to-1 margin, making the nation the first in the world to back wedlock for same-sex couples in a referendum.
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What’s more, the number of single mothers is way up as a result of divorce and out-of-wedlock births.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wedlock.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of wedlock
Middle English wedlok, from Old English wedlāc marriage bond, from wedd pledge + -lāc, suffix denoting activity
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See words that rhyme with wedlock Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for wedlock Spanish Central: Translation of wedlock Nglish: Translation of wedlock for Spanish speakers
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