betrothing

Only three years ago, when your Majesty's father was alive, there was some talk of peace and of betrothing you to her, and that was when her portrait was sent here.

From Europa's Fairy Book by John Dickson Batten

It was not impossibly a scheme for betrothing King Pedro to the infant Princess of the Asturias, thereby uniting the two Crowns, and bringing about the dethronement of Queen Isabella.

From The Letters of Queen Victoria : A Selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence between the Years 1837 and 1861 Volume 3, 1854-1861 by Arthur Christopher Benson

There was an unmistakable coolness visible in Mr. Clark's conduct towards him, but he readily understood why it was so, for after betrothing himself to his daughter he had disappeared mysteriously, and given no sign.

From The Boy Nihilist or, Young America in Russia by Allan Arnold

The ancient ceremony of betrothing seems still to have been in full use in Shakespeare’s day.

From Folk-lore of Shakespeare by Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer

By betrothing, the mind of the one is united to the mind of the other, so as to effect a marriage of the spirit previous to a marriage of the body, n.

From The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love by Emanuel Swedenborg