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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
Gabrielle Fonrouge, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2025
There was a saddlery in Nashville called Dark Horse that sold saddles and bridals for horses.
—Bryan West, The Tennessean, 13 Aug. 2025
Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 28 Aug. 2025
The Anna Be’ bridal brand was founded in 2006, and its sister brand a&be’ was founded in 2014.
—Joan Verdon, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bridal
Cite this Entry
“Bridal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bridal. Accessed 4 Sep. 2025.
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