α. see bride n.1 and maid n.1
β. 1600s bridesmayd, 1600s– bridesmaid, 1900s bride's maid.
bridesmaidn.
/ˈbrʌɪdzmeɪd/, U.S. /ˈbraɪdzˌmeɪd/ 1. A woman or girl who is chosen to act as an attendant of the bride at a wedding, and who performs various ceremonial duties for her.Traditionally a bridesmaid is a young unmarried woman. There may be one or more bridesmaids at a given wedding. N.E.D. (1888) suggested that the β. forms first appear in colloquial or epistolary contexts, but this does not seem to be borne out by more recent research.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > people connected with wedding > [noun] > attendant > bridesmaid
waiter1537
bridesmaid1552
bridesmaiden1634
bridewoman1649
best maid1766
maid of honour1895
bridesgirl1905
α.
β. 1657 J. Harington Hist. Polindor & Flostella (ed. 3) iii. 92 Last, nimble Brides-mayd turn'd (ith Bower well-bred) In part undress'd her.1752 Masquerade No. 1. 141 The joyful father, the deluded lady, and her blithful bridesmaids, all were ready.1794 Ld. Auckland Let. 10 Nov. in Jrnl. & Corr. (1862) III. 256 It is proposed to one of your sisters to be bridesmaid at the royal marriage.1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 2nd Ser. 164 The bridesmaids could sit in the front parlour and receive the company.1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 13 Feb. 8/2 The bridesmaids..wore dresses of cream soie épinglé and plush.1908 Times 14 June 13/2 There were four bridesmaids dressed in pale rose pink silk.1967 D. L. Thomas Plungers & Peacocks ix. 191 As casually as a bridesmaid tossing out nosegays.2015 Church Times 11 Sept. 19/4 On the day, the bride was attended by flowergirls and bridesmaids small and large—too many to enumerate.1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Bryde mayde, pronuba.
1629 F. Quarles Argalus & Parthenia ii. 68 The Bride shall sit; Despaire and Griefe shall stand, Like heartlesse bridemaids, vpon either hand.
1662 J. A. Comenius Janua Linguarum Trilinguis lxxix. 202 The bride-men accompanying the bridegroom; and the bride maids trimming up the bride.
1746 J. Hervey Medit. among Tombs 23 The Bride-maids, girded with Gladness, had prepared the Marriage-Bed..and dressed it in Pillows of Down.
1798 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Marinere vii, in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads 49 But in the Garden-bower the Bride And Bride-maids singing are.
1827 M. M. Sherwood Lady of Manor V. xxiv. 227 Letitia, who had been my bridemaid.
1836 N. Hawthorne in Token & Atlantic Souvenir 118 The widow between her fair young bridemaids.
1903 Harper's Bazar Feb. 180 An effective picture was produced..with the bridemaids dressed in Empire gowns of soft cream-white silk and red velvet picture-hats.
1968 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1985) I. 378/2 [Maryland] Other people besides the bride and groom..in a wedding party... Bridemaid.
2. A person or thing in a secondary or inferior position; a person who looks on while someone else attains a goal or aim.With allusion to always the bridesmaid, never the bride at Phrases b.
ΚΠ
1950 Washington Post 29 Nov. 22/5 Joe was a bridesmaid again in the fifth.
1982 Financial Times (Nexis) 30 Dec. 6 M&G, the perennial bridesmaid of the sector, takes a relaxed view of the growth of newcomers such as Henderson.
2000 Canberra Sunday Times 11 June 88/1 Having lost to the US both in the World Cup and Olympic finals, they seem likely to finish bridemaids once more.
Phrases
Proverb. three times a bridesmaid and never the bride, always the bridesmaid, never the bride, and variants.
a. literal. With reference to a woman who will not or seems unlikely to marry.Perhaps popularized as part of a long-running advertising campaign in which Listerine mouthwash was promoted as a remedy for halitosis and (by extension) social stigmatization: cf. quot. 1922, and quot. 1930 at Phrases b.
ΚΠ
1858 Godey's Lady's Bk. Feb. 154/1 ‘Three times a bridesmaid,’ they say, ‘never a bride.’
1864 C. M. Yonge Trial II. vi. 119 Gertrude..had been surfeited with weddings, and replied to Harry's old wit of ‘three times a bridesmaid and never a bride’, that she hoped so.
1917 C. Collins & ‘F. W. Leigh’ Why am I always the Bridesmaid? (transcribed from song, perf. ‘Lily Morris’) Why am I always the bridesmaid, never the blushing bride?
1922 Vogue 15 Apr. 106/4 (advt.) She was often a bridesmaid but never a bride... Your mirror can't tell you when your breath is not right.
2018 Gananoque (Ont.) Reporter (Nexis) 23 Aug. a7 She is the drunk at her sister's wedding—always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
b. figurative. With reference to a person who is perpetually in a secondary position or who looks on while someone else attains a goal or aim. Also occasionally of a thing.
ΚΠ
1930 Washington Post 27 July (Sports section) m16/4 Macdonald Smith, one of the brightest golfing stars Carnoustie has sent to the United States, is like the girl in the advertisements—often a bridesmaid but never a bride.
1961 Times 30 Oct. 6/2 On the bitter-sweet principle of always the bridesmaid but never the blushing bride, they took second place.
2002 N.Y. Times 8 Sept. ii. 43/1 Was ‘Chicago’ destined to remain a movieland bridesmaid but never a bride?
Compounds
General attributive, as bridesmaid dress, etc.
ΚΠ
1855 T. E. Lynch Red Brick House xlix. 92 I have a recollection of our bridesmaid dresses, which were of a pearly white.
1903 Boston Home Jrnl. 26 Dec. 3/1 The idea of a white-clad bride going to the altar attended by a string of girl friends in bridesmaid frocks has always been pleasing to a jaded public.
1967 B. Cleary Mitch & Amy ii. 33 Marla picked out a pink chiffon bridesmaid dress, looked at it critically.
2000 You & your Wedding Mar. 384/2 Rhapsody also offers an equally extensive range of matching bridesmaid and flowergirl tiaras.
Derivatives
ˈbridesmaidship n. (also bridemaidship) the fact of being a bridesmaid.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > people connected with wedding > [noun] > attendant > bridesmaid > position of
bridesmaidship1862
bridesmaidenship1884
1862 Once a Week 28 June 24/2 I, for my part, could have waited patiently for this forlorn hope of bridesmaidship, but that I have to combat somebody else's impatience, for..I was myself engaged to be married.
1864 Chambers's Jrnl. 8 Oct. 642 It's your first experience of bridemaidship, and you look very nice.
2017 Africa News (Nexis) 26 May How much of an expert is the author on issues of weddings and specifically ‘bridesmaidship’?
ˈbridesmaiding n. the action of being a bridesmaid.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > people connected with wedding > [noun] > attendant > bridesmaid > action of
bridesmaiding1858
1858 A. Trollope Dr. Thorne I. iv. 107 I won't be Augusta's bridesmaid; I'll bide my time for bridesmaiding.
2016 Evening Standard (Nexis) 7 Mar. Anyone who's ever tried it knows bridesmaiding is a frightful bore.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1552