BRIDEGROOM (Saxon, brydguma, i.e., bride's man),
a man newly married, or a man about to be married. For the correctness of the latter definition we have the authority of Shakespeare:—
"As are those dulect sounds at break of day
That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear,
And summon him to marriage."
In nothing have the usages of different nations varied more than in regard to marriage, and the ceremonies by which it is celebrated or solemnized. Amongst the Romans the bridegroom was decked to receive his bride; his hair was combed and cut in a particular form; he had a coronet or chaplet on his head, and was dressed in a white garment.