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Webster 1913 Edition
Espouse
Es-pouse′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Espoused
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Espousing
.] [OF.
espouser
, esposer
, F. épouser
, L. sponsare
to betroth, espouse, fr. sponsus
betrothed, p. p. of spondere
to promise solemnly or sacredly. Cf. Spouse
.] 1.
To betroth; to promise in marriage; to give as spouse.
A virgin
espoused
to a man whose name was Joseph. Luke i. 27.
2.
To take as spouse; to take to wife; to marry.
Lavinia will I make my empress, . . .
And in the sacred Pantheon her
And in the sacred Pantheon her
espouse
. Shakespeare
3.
To take to one’s self with a view to maintain; to make one's own; to take up the cause of; to adopt; to embrace.
“He espoused that quarrel.” Bacon.
Promised faithfully to
espouse
his cause as soon as he got out of the war. Bp. Burnet.
Webster 1828 Edition
Espouse
ESPOUSE
,Verb.
T.
1.
To betroth.When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph. Matt.1.
2. To betroth; to promise or engage in marriage, by contract in writing, or by some pledge; as, the king espoused his daughter to a foreign prince. Usually and properly followed by to, rather than with.
3.
To marry; to wed.4.
To unite intimately or indissolubly.I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Cor.11.
5.
To embrace; to take to one's self, with a view to maintain; as, to espouse the quarrel of another; to espouse a cause.Definition 2024
espouse
espouse
English
Verb
espouse (third-person singular simple present espouses, present participle espousing, simple past and past participle espoused)
- (transitive) To become/get married to.
- (transitive) To accept, support, or take on as one’s own (an idea or a cause).
- 1998, William Croft, Event Structure in Argument Linking, in: Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds., “The Projection of Arguments”, p. 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 […]
- 1998, William Croft, Event Structure in Argument Linking, in: Miriam Butt and Wilhelm Geuder, eds., “The Projection of Arguments”, p. 37
Related terms
Translations
become married to
accept, support, take as one’s own
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