Wedlock, n.
Etymology: [AS. wedlac a pledge, be trothal; wedd a pledge + lac a gift, an offering. See Wed, n., and cf. Lake, v. i., Knowledge.]
1. The ceremony, or the state, of marriage; matrimony. "That blissful yoke . . . that men clepeth [call] spousal, or wedlock." Chaucer. For what is wedlock forced but a hell, An age of discord or continual strife Shak.
2. A wife; a married woman. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Syn. -- See Marriage.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Wedlock, v. t.
To marry; to unite in marriage; to wed. [R.] "Man thus wedlocked." Milton.