hitched

The word 'hitched' is built upon the verb 'hitch', which emerged in Middle English with a core sense of moving jerkily or catching on something. Its ultimate origin is obscure but may be imitative of a jerking motion. The application to fastening, as in hitching a horse to a post, developed naturally from this idea of a sudden pull or connection. The informal adjectival use meaning 'married' is a 19th-century metaphorical extension from this notion of being fastened or tied together, humorously comparing matrimony to being hitched like animals to a wagon.

Structure: hitch (to fasten) + ed (adjective suffix) - hitch: Origin: Middle English, of unknown origin. Functional role: Core verb root meaning to move or pull with a jerk, or to fasten. - ed: Origin: Old English -ed, -od, -ad. Functional role: Suffix forming adjectives from verbs, indicating a state or condition.