▪ I. troth-plight, n. arch.
(ˈtrəʊθplaɪt)
Forms: see troth, truth, plight n.1, v.1
[f. troth n. + plight n.1]
The act of plighting troth, or troth plighted; a solemn promise or engagement, esp. of marriage; betrothal.
| [13.. Cursor M. 28485 (Cott.) Broken..my trouth plight.] 1513 Douglas æneis x. xii. 82 A Greik,..That fugityve..Had left hys spowsal trewth plycht oncompleit. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 265/2 That all debtes, that were owyng through trouth plyght, should not be pledid in spirituall but in temporall court. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 278 A Name As ranke as any Flax-Wench, that puts to Before her troth-plight. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xix. [xx], The lovers going through an emblematic ceremony of their troth-plight... They broke betwixt them the thin broad-piece of gold. 1881 Swinburne Mary Stuart i. i. 52 To set again the seal on our past oaths And bind their trothplight faster than it is With one more witness. |
| attrib. 1550 Reg. Gild Corp. Chr. York (1872) 228 note, A trouth-plighte rynge. a 1652 Brome Queenes Exch. ii. i, A very trothplight qualm. |
▪ II. ˈtroth-plight, pa. pple. and ppl. a. arch.
[f. as prec. + plight, pa. pple. of plight v.1]
Engaged by a ‘troth’ or covenant, esp. of marriage; betrothed, affianced.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 153 Whan þei were trouth plight, & purueied þe sposage. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 208 Ich serued symme at þe style, And was his prentys yplyght [v.r. truþeplith]. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) i. xlviii. 93 b/2 The doughter of a noble Romayne; whyche some tyme was fyaunced and trouthplyght in maryage to a noble man of Rome. 1513 Douglas æneis x. xii. 87 The purpour brycht, Quhilk of his trewth plycht lufe he bair in sing. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. i. 21 He is marryed to Nell Quickly, and certainly she did you wrong, for you were troth-plight to her. 1633 Heywood Eng. Trav. iii. Wks. 1874 IV. 57 Shee a Prostitute? Nay, and to him my troath plight, and my Friend. 1887 Swinburne Locrine i. ii. 33, I that was trothplight servant to thy sire. 1896 Morris Poems by the Way (1898) 119 There are troth-plight maids unwed. |
▪ III. troth-ˈplight, v. arch.
[f. as prec. + plight v.1]
trans. To plight one's troth to; to engage, or engage oneself to, in order to pledge marriage; to betroth, affiance: = troth v. † In quot. 1470–85, to plight one's troth, engage (to do something).
| [1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8363 Ȝyf þou a womman trouþe plyght.] c 1440 Promp. Parv. 504/1 Trutheplytyn (K., S. truplytyn, P. trouthplityn), affido, C. F. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. xxii. 247 And thenne they trouth-plyte eche other to loue, and neuer to faylle whyles their lyfe lasteth. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 676 Fraunceys,..whose doughter..Maximylian had before trouth plyted for his lawfull wyfe. 1601 Munday Downfall Robt. Earl of Huntington i. ii. A iv b, Marian, daughter to Lord Lacy, Is troth-plighted to wastfull Huntington. 1825 Scott Betrothed xxix, Not married, perhaps, but engaged—troth-plighted. 1878 Susan Phillips On Seaboard 75 Hand in hand, Troth-plighted, we two heard the midnight chime. |
So † ˈtroth-ˌplighting, the action of plighting troth, engagement, betrothal: = troth-plight n.
| c 1440 Jacob's Well 52 Þowȝ non othe be made, ne trewthe plyȝtyng, ne no fleschly knowyng, ne no wytnes be þere. c 1477 Caxton Jason 127 The fyansialles and trouthplighting of Iason and Creusa. 1530 Palsgr. 283/1 Trouth plyghtyng, fianceailles. |