handfast
/ˈhan(d)fɑːst
/archaic
verb [with object]
Engage (someone) to be married: she was handfasted to my older brother Lewis they had been handfasted when they were but twelve years old...
- Though Brenna had agreed to handfast with him, he wondered if she might still change her mind.
- Why in the name of all that is holy did that man handfast to her?
- I would like to handfast with him tonight, before he leaves on the voyage.
noun
An engagement or marriage contract: the only thing that can undo a handfast is a lack of love...
- Since she's naught but an orphan, lacking dowry and family, then you should be content with a handfast.
- As late as the sixteenth century the issue of a handfast marriage claimed the earldom of Sutherland
- He was the offspring of a handfast union.
Origin
Late Old English: from Old Norse handfesta 'strike a bargain by joining hands'.