BRÚÐR
nafnorðkvenkyn
f., dat. acc. brúði; pl. brúðir: [Ulf. renders the Gr. νύμφη by bruþs, Matth. x. 35 (where the Gr. word means nurus); John iii. 29 (where it means bride) is lost in UIf., but no doubt ‘bruþs’ was also used there: A. S. bryde; Engl. bride; O. H. G. prut; Germ. braut; Dan.-Swed. Brud]:—a bride; Germans use ‘braut’ in the sense of betrothed, but Icel. call a girl festar-mey (betrothed) from the espousal till she sets out for the wedding journey, when she becomes ‘bride’; in mod. usage the word only applies to the wedding day; konur skipuðu pall, ok var brúðrin döpr, Nj. 11; sat Hallgerðr á palli, ok var brúðrin allkát, 18; var brúðrin í för með þeim, 50; brúðr sat á miðjum palli, en til annarrar handar Þorgerðr dóttir hennar, 51; brúðr sat á midjan pall ok Þorlaug á aðra ok Geirlaug á aðra (the ladies’ seat of honour was nearest to the bride on her right and left hand), Lv. 37; konur sátu á palli, ok sat Helga hin Fagra næst brúðinni, Ísl. ii. 251.
β. in a wider sense, the bridesmaids (= brúðkonur) sitting on the ‘bride’s bench’ are called brides; sat þá Þorgerðr (Ed. and MSS. wrongly Þórhalla) meðal brúða, then Thorgerda was seated among the ‘brides,’ i. e. on the bride’s bench, being herself bride, Ni. 51; cp. also Þkv. 25, hvar sattu ‘brúðir’ (acc. pl.) bíta hvassara? Answ., sáka ek brúðir bíta en breiðara: in poetry, girls, maids in general. Lex. Poët.: metaph. and theol., b. Guðs, b. Kristi = the church, H. E., Vidal., etc.
COMPDS: brúðarbekkr, brúðarefni, brúðargangr, brúðarhús, brúðarlín, brúðarstóll.