Bridesman vs. Bridesmaid — What's the Difference?

A bridesman is a close male relative and/or friend of the bride, one who walks down the aisle in the bridal ceremony in the traditional place of a bridesmaid. Charlotte Bronte made reference to bridesmen, seemingly in the modern sense, in the final chapter of her 1859 novel Shirley, which is set in Yorkshire in 1811-1812: "Amongst the bridal train the most noticeable personages were the youthful bridesmen, Henry Sympson and Martin Yorke." The term, however, has an ancient and obscure, possibly confabulated origin.

Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party in a Western traditional wedding ceremony. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often a close friend or relative.

A male friend or companion of the bridegroom, having various ceremonial duties at a wedding.

A woman who supports the bride leading up to and during a wedding.

A male bridesmaid; a man who attends a bride during her wedding ceremony, as part of the wedding party.

A woman who attends a bride during her wedding ceremony, as part of the main wedding party.

A male friend who attends upon a bridegroom and bride at their marriage; the "best man."

A person or team that perennially finishes well, but never first.

To act as a bridesmaid for; to attend a bride during her wedding ceremony.

A female friend who attends on a bride at her wedding.

An unmarried woman who attends the bride at a wedding