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 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

Anagrams

• poseuse