the.com/promise ring
A wedding ring's commitment-phobic younger sibling, worn before the real question is even on the table.
means A ring given as a symbol of devotion or fidelity without the formal commitment of engagement or marriage.
from Not an ancient tradition but a modern retail-and-teen-culture invention — rings exchanged as tokens of devotion have existed loosely for centuries (posy rings in earlier eras carried inscribed vows of love), but the specific term 'promise ring,' marketed as a pre-engagement step, really took hold in the late 20th century, boosted by purity-ring culture in the 1990s and 2000s and later by celebrity gossip pages needing a name for the jewelry stars gave sweethearts before any proposal.
- origin
- Victorian posy rings inscribed with secret love vows
- worn on
- left ring finger, same as engagement rings
- actual promise
- usually monogamy, sometimes just future engagement
- legal weight
- zero, unlike an engagement ring in some lawsuits