betroth

verb

1. (archaic, formal, transitive)Of a man: to promise to take (a woman) as a future spouse; to plight one's troth to.

   “And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him goe and returne vnto his houſe, leſt he die in battel, and another man take her.”

2. (archaic, formal, transitive)Often of a parent or guardian: to promise that (two people) be married to each other; specifically and chiefly, to promise that (a woman) be given in marriage to a man; to affiance.

   “He betrothed his daughter to a distant relative.”

   “The couple were betrothed not long after they met each other.”

   “You to remoue that ſiege of griefe from her [Juliet] / Betrothd and vvould haue married her perforce / To Countie Paris.”

   “To me, O Bacchus thou betrothedſt Heaven: / Ah me! for heaven vvhat dovvries here are given!”

   “VVherefore let Chriſtiana look out ſome Damſels for her Sons, to vvhom they may be Betroathed, &c. that the Name of their Father, and the Houſe of his Progenitors may never be forgotten in the VVorld.”

3. (archaic, figuratively, formal, transitive)Of God: to enter into a relationship with (believers, or the church as a whole); also, of a priest: to pledge (himself) to the church prior to being consecrated as a bishop.

   “And I [God] will betroth thee [his people] vnto me foreuer; yea, I will betroth thee vnto me in righteouſneſſe, and in iudgement, and in louing kindneſſe, and in mercies. I will euen betroth thee vnto me in faithfulneſſe, and thou ſhalt know the Lord.”

   “God betrotheth thee in righteouſnes, and putteth righteouſnes into thee; […]”

   “He [Jesus] has paid my Debts to thy [God the Father's] Juſtice, and thou vvill not be tvvice paid: Thou betrotheſt in Judgment, on mature Counſel; thy Gifts and Callings are vvithout Repentance: Thou foreſavveſt all Events, and hovv often I ſhould abuſe thy Mercy, grieve thy Spirit, and yet betrothedſt in Judgment: […]”

   “[W]henever any Biſhop is conſecrated, he be conſecrated to ſome certain and determinate Church, to vvhich he vvas betrothed, or became a Spouſe at the Time of his Confirmation. Hereby it ſeems, that if any Perſon be conſecrated a Biſhop to that Church, vvhereunto he vvas not before betrothed, he ſhall not receive the Habit of Conſecration, as not being Canonically promoted to it.”

   “[M]ay my soul remember thee, oh thou God of my salvation! […] [T]hou passedst by, and didst bid me live, and didst cleanse me, and take me home, and betrothedst me to thyself, and made me thine for ever; […]”

4. (figuratively, formal, obsolete, transitive)To pledge or promise oneself to (a cause); to espouse; also (sometimes reflexive), to pledge or promise (oneself or one's efforts) to a cause or to do something.

   “To priuate fight they haue betroutht themſelues, / Of which conflicte, the end muſt needes be this, / That one do liue, that other die the death.”

   “[W]hat is he for a foole that betrothes himſelfe to vnquietneſſe?”

   “He [John Donne] vvas novv entered into the eighteenth year of his age, and at that time had betrothed himſelf to no Religion that might give him any other denomination than a Chriſtian.”

   “It vvill be enough for thoſe that have betrothed the VVay [Christianity], that many are the hands heads and hearts of ſuch vvorthy and unvvearied Gentlemen as are Going along vvith them.”

   “[C]ontinuing to work on my Ph.D., still renting an apartment in Australia, […] I am out of sight, out of mind, I don't belong, a special COVID status is given for me to go on. A three-month renewal to which I am now betrothen, the plans I submit get pushed with delay after delay.”