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Webster 1913 Edition

Spouse

Spouse

(spouz)
,
Noun.
[OF.
espous
,
espos
, fem.
espouse
, F.
époux
,
épouse
, fr. L.
sponsus
,
sponsa
, prop. p. p. of
spondere
,
sponsum
, to promise solemnly, to engage one’s self. Cf.
Despond
,
Espouse
,
Respond
,
Sponsor
.]
1.
A man or woman engaged or joined in wedlock; a married person, husband or wife.
At last such grace I found, and means I wrought,
That I that lady to my
spouse
had won.
Spenser.
2.
A married man, in distinction from a
spousess
or
married woman
; a bridegroom or husband.
[Obs.]
At which marriage was [were] no persons present but the
spouse
, the spousess, the Duchess of Bedford her mother, the priest, two gentlewomen, and a young man.
Fabyan.

Spouse

(spouz)
,
Verb.
T.
[See
Espouse
, and
Spouse
,
Noun.
]
To wed; to espouse.
[Obs.]
This markis hath her
spoused
with a ring.
Chaucer.
Though
spoused
, yet wanting wedlock's solemnize.
Spenser.
She was found again, and
spoused
to Marinell.
Spenser.

Webster 1828 Edition

Spouse

SPOUSE

,
Noun.
[L., to engage.] One engaged or joined in wedlock; a married person, husband or wife. We say of a man, that he is the spouse of such a woman; or of a woman, she is the spouse of such a man.

SPOUSE

,
Verb.
T.
To wed; to espouse. [Little used. See Espouse.]

Definition 2024

spouse

spouse

English

Noun

spouse ‎(plural spouses)

  1. A person's husband or wife.
    People should treat their spouses with respect.
    • Spenser
      At last such grace I found, and means I wrought, / That I that lady to my spouse had won.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

spouse ‎(third-person singular simple present spouses, present participle spousing, simple past and past participle spoused)

  1. (dated) To wed; to espouse.
    • 1819, John Keats, Otho the Great, Act III, Scene II, verses 212-214
      Do you stand possess’d
      Of any proof against the honourableness
      Of Lady Auranthe, our new-spoused daughter?

Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

Borrowing from Anglo-Norman espus, espuse and Old French espos, espose and by aphasis from Latin spōnsus ‎(“bridegroom”), spōnsa ‎(“bride”), from spondeō ‎(“I vow, pledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *spend-.

Cognate to espouse, sponsor.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /spaʊs/
  • Rhymes: -aʊs

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