[f. prec. + -AL 2.] The act of betrothing; the fact of being betrothed; engagement for marriage, affiance.
1844. Mem. Babylonian P’cess., II. 103. Here, as in Assyria and Chaldea, betrothals take place at a very early age.
1858. Longf., M. Standish, IX. 12. Softly the youth and the maiden repeated the words of betrothal.
attrib. 1872. Yeats, Techn. Hist. Comm., 188. Betrothal rings, set with pearls and gems.
1878. B. Taylor, Deukalion, I. iii. 32. Our betrothal-kiss.
