A person who has recently been married, usually referring to someone married within the last year or so.
Compound: 'newly' (recently) plus 'wed' (married, from Old English 'weddian'). The '-ed' in 'wed' is the past tense, making this literally 'recently married.' Became a common term by the 1800s.
The word 'newlywed' assumes people are noticeably different when freshly married—so much so that we needed a special word for them. It reflects an old cultural belief that marriage completely transforms a person's identity.
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