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betroth'd

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An archaic contracted form of “betrothed,” meaning formally pledged to marry; it denotes engagement rather than the completed marriage.

Detailed Definition
This older form means pledged to be married. Donne uses it metaphorically to describe the speaker as bound to God’s enemy, intensifying the poem’s language of spiritual conflict and divided allegiance.
Example
Example in poetry:
“But am betroth’d unto your enemy,” uses an archaic contraction of betrothed, meaning formally promised in marriage; Shakespeare’s plays often make betrothal a source of conflict between love and family duty; “she was betroth’d before she chose her own desire” highlights the restricted agency implied by the custom; modern poems may use betrothed figuratively, as in “betrothed to the sea”
Additional Notes
“Betroth'd” is an archaic contracted form that may not be immediately clear to modern readers.; Found in the poem, Batter my heart, three-person'd God by John Donne
Also Known As
betrothed engaged promised
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