One word is about weddings and brides, and the other about horses!
Although the sounds of these two words is the same, they are actually used in different contexts and setting unless the bride, dressed in her bridal gown, is waiting for the groom, seated on a bridled horse, to arrive!
Bridal refers to something to do with a bride or a wedding. It is derived from the Old English word brudealo, which means wedding feast. This is further formed by combining ‘bryd’ and ‘ealo/ale’, which is what people drink at weddings, don’t they?
The word bridle, on the other hand, comes from the old English word brīdel, meaning “to move quickly”. As a verb, it means restrain. Imagine how horses are bridled?
Tool tip to remember the difference:
Just Remember: Brides, in their bridal gowns, wait for grooms to arrive, on their bridled horses.
Examples of incorrect uses of Bridal and Bridle:
1. Services are tailored to the needs and desires of the bridle couple.
2. We should all welcome the new attempts to bridle the beast.
Examples of correct uses of Bridal and Bridle:
1. A lot of budget calculations are available on a bridal website.
2. I saw her on the bridle path near us.
A Quick Recap:
Bridal means referring to a bride or a wedding: “Ritu Kumar is the best designer of bridal gowns. ”
Bridle, on the other hand, refers to the head harness, including bit and reins used to guide or to restrain a horse.
By extension, it also means the act of restraining power or action or limiting excess: ‘his common sense is a bridle to his quick temper”
Explore More Usage Tips:
Akshay in the bridal gown was on the way to marriage ceremony , but he needed to control the the ride using the bridle of the horse to reach safely .
is the following sentence correct?
“his temper is a bridle to his common sense”