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) (file)
Audio (Southern England) (file)
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -aʊz, -aʊs

Verb

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

(transitive) To become/get married to.
- 1922, Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization‎, page 232:
  He espoused several wives, and besides kept a considerable number of concubines in his harem.
(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 […]

Related terms

espousal
sponsor
spouse

Translations

become married to

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)

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))
Swedish: anamma (sv)

Anagrams

poseuse