What is engagement ring?

if you want to know what is engagement ring? you can visit wikipedia and searching for the mean of engagement ring. But if you want to directly read the description, here is the article from wikipadia:

An engagement ring is a ring indicating that the person wearing it is engaged to be married, especially in Western cultures. In Western countries, engagement rings are worn only by women, and rings can feature diamonds or other gemstones. In other cultures men and women wear matching rings. In some cultures, engagement rings are also used as wedding rings. The woman's ring is presented as a engagement gift by a man to his prospective spouse while he proposes marriage or directly after she accepts his marriage proposal. It represents a formal agreement to future marriage. In Western countries, it is customarily worn on the left hand ring finger, though customs vary across the world. Before agreeing to marry, a couple may choose to buy and wear pre-engagement rings, also called promise rings. After marrying, the couple may wear both engagement rings and wedding rings, or if they prefer, only the wedding rings. Some brides have their engagement and wedding rings permanently soldered together after marriage.

Engagement ring finger

Engagement ring finger - image:e4jewelry

In many countries, engagement rings are placed on the finger nearest the little finger on the left hand. At one time it was believed that this finger contained a vein (the vena amoris) that led to the heart. This idea was popularized by Henry Swinburne in A treatise of Spousals, or Matrimonial Contracts (1686). The story seems to have its origin in the ancient Roman book Attic Nights by Aulus Gellius quoting Apion's Aegyptiacorum, where the alleged vein was originally a nervus (a word that can be translated either as "nerve" or "sinew").