espouse

English

Etymology

From Middle English espousen, borrowed from Old French espouser, from Latin spōnsāre, present active infinitive of spōnsō (frequentative of spondeō), from Proto-Indo-European *spend-.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪˈspaʊz/, IPA^(key): /ɪˈspaʊs/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -aʊz, -aʊs

Verb

espouse (third-person singular simple present espouses, present participle espousing, simple past and past participle espoused)

1. (transitive) To marry.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 11:2:

     For I am iealous ouer you with godly iealousie, for I haue espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 1:18:

     Now the birth of Iesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Ioseph (before they came together) shee was found with childe of the holy Ghost.

   • 1759, David Hume, “[Elizabeth I.]”, in The History of England, under the House of Tudor. […], volume II, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 414:

     Philip and Henry terminated hostilities by a mutual restitution of all places taken during the course of the war; and Philip espoused the princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of France, formerly betrothed to his son Don Carlos.

   • 1922, Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization‎, page 232:

     He espoused several wives, and besides kept a considerable number of concubines in his harem.

2. (transitive, figurative, modern usage) To accept, support, or take on as one’s own (an idea or a cause).
   • 1998, William Croft, “The Projection of Arguments”, in Miriam Butt, Wilhelm Geuder, editors, Event Structure in Argument Linking, page 37:

     Although Dowty’s proposal is attractive from the point of view of the alternative argument linking theory that I am espousing, since it eschews the use of thematic roles and thematic role hierarchies, […], but it still has some drawbacks.

   • 2011, Donald J. van Vliet, “Letter: Republicans espouse ideology over national welfare”, in The Eagle-Tribune‎, retrieved 2013-12-18:

     Those that espoused this ideology […]

   • 2023 June 22, Heather Stewart, “Only 18% of leave voters think Brexit has been a success, poll finds”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     Among those leavers who believe Brexit has not gone well, many blame politicians for handling it badly – a narrative espoused by the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who recently claimed that “Brexit has failed”.

Related terms

• espousal
• sponsor
• spouse

Translations

to marry

Bulgarian: женя се (ženja se) Czech: vdát se (cs) pf, oženit se (cs) pf, vdávat se (cs) impf, ženit se (cs) impf Dutch: trouwen (nl) met (nl), in het huwelijk treden met (nl), tot man nemen, tot vrouw nemen Esperanto: geedziĝi je French: épouser (fr) German: heiraten (de), ehelichen (de), sich vermählen mit, zur Frau nehmen, zum Mann nehmen, die Ehe eingehen mit Polish: poślubić (pl), ożenić się (pl), wyjść za mąż (pl) Portuguese: desposar (pt) Russian: вступа́ть в бра́к (vstupátʹ v brák), жени́ться (ru) n (ženítʹsja) Spanish: desposar (es)

accept, support, take as one’s own

Bulgarian: поддържам (bg) (poddǎržam) Czech: vzít za své (cs) pf, přijmout (cs) pf, brát za své impf, přijímat (cs) impf Dutch: verdedigen (nl), aannemen (nl), ondersteunen (nl) Esperanto: subteni, apogi (eo), adopti (eo) Finnish: omaksua (fi), kannattaa (fi) French: épouser (fr), adopter (fr) German: eintreten für, Partei ergreifen für Greek: ενστερνίζομαι (el) (ensternízomai), ασπάζομαι (el) (aspázomai) Portuguese: apoiar (pt) Russian: подде́рживать (иде́ю) (poddérživatʹ (idéju)), отдава́ться (де́лу) (otdavátʹsja (délu)) Spanish: propugnar (es) Swedish: anamma (sv)

Anagrams

• poseuse