From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwedlockwed‧lock /ˈwedlɒk $ -lɑːk/ noun [uncountable] old use 1 → born out of wedlock2 SSFMARRYthe state of being married
Examples from the Corpus
wedlock• A baby born out of wedlock was a great sin, then, and a huge embarrassment to the family.• A baby born out of wedlock was a horrible sin for which there was no forgiveness.• I had to advise him that the father of a child born out of wedlock had few, if any, rights.• Unlike the synonym, MAMzer, BENKert connotes love child, not one merely born out of wedlock.• Burns had fourteen known children, half of them born out of wedlock.• It's upsetting to find you were born out of wedlock.• Augustine kept a mistress and sired a son out of wedlock.Origin wedlock Old English wedlac, from wedd “something given to show that a promise will be kept” + -lac “actions, activity” 