The 60th anniversary is often reckoned the Diamond wedding in place of the 75th, as the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession was her ‘Diamond Jubilee’. See also jubilee.

The meal (not actually breakfast) that is traditionally served at the reception after a wedding ceremony or just before the married couple leave for their honeymoon. Weddings now usually take place in the early afternoon, but the expression dates from the time when they were held in the morning.

The fourth finger of the left hand. Macrobius says that the thumb is too busy to be set apart, the forefinger and little finger are only half-protected, the middle finger is called medicus, and is too opprobrious for the purpose of honour, so the only finger left is the pronubus.

Aulus Gellius tells how Appianus asserts in his Egyptian books that a very delicate nerve runs from the fourth finger on the left hand to the heart, on which account this finger is used for the marriage ring.

The finger on which the [wedding] ring is to be worn is the fourth finger on the left hand, next unto the little finger; because by the received opinion of the learned … in ripping up and anatomising men's bodies, there is a vein of blood, called vena amoris, which passeth from that finger to the heart.

henry swinburne: Treaties of Spousals(1680)

In the roman catholic church, the thumb and next two fingers represent the trinity. The bridegroom says: ‘In the name of the Father’ and touches the thumb, ‘in the name of the Son’ and touches the index finger, and ‘in the name of the Holy Ghost’ and touches the long or third finger. With the word ‘Amen’ he then puts it on the fourth finger and leaves it there. In some countries the wedding ring is worn on the right hand. This was the custom generally in England until the end of the 16th century, and among Roman Catholics until much later.

In the Hereford, York and Salisbury missals, the ring is directed to be put first on the thumb, then on the index finger, then on the long finger and lastly on the ring finger, quia in illo digito est quaedam vena procedens usque ad cor (‘because in this finger there is a certain vein running to the heart’).

A humorous term for the male genitalia, dating from the early years of the 20th century.

This word comes from Old English wed, ‘pledge’, and -lāc, a suffix indicating activity, the whole meaning the marriage vow and hence the married state. It does not imply the unopenable lock of marriage, as has sometimes been supposed.

See under blood.

See under golden.

See under monkey.

See under herring.

See under paris.

See under penny.

See under shot.

See under silver.

See under white.