spouse

English

Etymology

From Middle English spous, spouse, from Anglo-Norman espus m, espuse f and Old French espos m, espose f and by aphesis from Latin spōnsus m (“bridegroom”), spōnsa f (“bride”), from spondeō (“I vow, pledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *spend-. Displaced native Old English ġemaca.

Related to espouse and sponsor.

Pronunciation

Audio (US) (file)
IPA^(key): /spaʊs/
Rhymes: -aʊs

Noun

spouse (plural spouses)

A person in a marriage or marital relationship.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:spouse
Hyponyms: husband, wife
People should treat their spouses with respect.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, stanza 21:
  At last such grace I found, and meanes I wrought, / That I that Ladie to my spouse had wonne

Derived terms

spousal (adjective)

Translations

person in a marriage or marital relationship

Arabic: زَوْج‎ m (zawj), زَوْجَة‎ f (zawja)
Egyptian Arabic: جوز‎ m (gōz), جوزة‎ f (gōzа)
Armenian: ամուսին (hy) (amusin)
Azerbaijani: yoldaş (az)
Bashkir: хәләл ефет (xäläl yefet), иптәш (iptäş)
Basque: ezkonlagun (eu), ezkontide (eu)
Belarusian: сужэ́нец m (sužénjec), муж m (muž), жо́нка f (žónka), сужэ́нка f (sužénka)
Bikol Central: agom (bcl)
Breton: pried (br)
Bulgarian: съпру́г (bg) m (sǎprúg), съпру́га (bg) f (sǎprúga), мъж (bg) m (mǎž), жена́ (bg) f (žená)
Catalan: cònjuge (ca), espòs (ca) m, esposa (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 配偶 (zh) (pèi'ǒu)
Czech: choť (cs) m, choť (cs) f, manžel (cs) m, muž (cs) m, manželka (cs) f, žena (cs) f
Danish: ægtefælle (da) c, mage (da) c (joking)
Dutch: echtgenoot (nl), eega (nl), wederhelft (nl), gade (nl), huwelijkspartner (nl)
Esperanto: geedzo (eo), spozo (eo)
Estonian: abikaasa (et)
Ewe: srɔ̃
Faroese: maki m
Finnish: puoliso (fi), aviopuoliso (fi), (informal) siippa (fi)
French: époux (fr) m, épouse (fr) f
Galician: cónxuxe m or f, consorte m or f
Georgian: მეუღლე (meuɣle)
German: Gatte (de) m, Gattin (de) f, Ehepartner (de) m, Ehepartnerin (de) f
Greek: σύζυγος (el) m or f (sýzygos)
Hebrew: בֶּן זוּג‎ (he) m (ben zúg), בַּת זוּג‎ (he) f (bat zúg)
Hindi: जीवन साथी (jīvan sāthī)
Hungarian: házastárs (hu), élettárs (hu), hitves (hu)
Icelandic: maki m
Ido: spozo (io)
Italian: sposo (it) m, sposa (it) f, coniuge (it) m or f
Irish: céile m
Japanese: 配偶者 (ja) (はいぐうしゃ, haigūsha), 伴侶 (ja) (hanryo)
Javanese: bojo (jv), garwa
Kazakh: жұбай (jūbai), зайып (zaiyp)
Korean: 배우자(配偶者) (ko) (bae'uja)
Kyrgyz: жубай (ky) (jubay)
Lao: ຄູ່ສົມລົດ (khū som lot)
Latin: coniūnx (la) m or f, marītus (la) m, (wife) marīta f, uxor (la) f
Latvian: dzīvesbiedrs m, dzīvesbiedre f, dzīvesbiedrene f
Macedonian: сопружник m (sopružnik), брачен другар m (bračen drugar) (generic), сопруг m (soprug), сопруга f (sopruga)
Malay: pasangan (ms), teman hidup
Mansaka: asawa
Maori: āwhai, makau, hoa mārena
Navajo: bił hinishnáanii
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ektefelle m, ektemake m
Nynorsk: ektefelle m, ektemake m
Ojibwe: niwiidigemaagan
Old English: ġemaca m
Persian: همسر‎ (fa) (hamsar)
Polish: małżonek (pl) m, małżonka (pl) f, mąż (pl) m, żona (pl) f
Portuguese: cônjuge (pt) m, esposo (pt) m, esposa (pt) f
Russian: супру́г (ru) m (suprúg), супру́га (ru) f (suprúga)
Scottish Gaelic: cèile (gd) m or n, fear-cèile m, bean-chèile f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: су̏пруг m, су̏пруга f, му̑ж m, жѐна f
Roman: sȕprug (sh) m, sȕpruga (sh) f, mȗž (sh) m, žèna (sh) f
Seri: aal
Slovak: manžel (sk) m, manželka (sk) f, muž (sk) m, žena (sk) f
Slovene: soprọ̑g (sl) m, mọ̑ž (sl) m, žéna (sl) f
Spanish: cónyuge (es) m or f, consorte (es) m or f
Swedish: (male) äkta make c, (female) äkta maka (sv) c
Tagalog: asawa (tl)
Tajik: ҳамсар (hamsar)
Thai: คู่สมรส (th) (kûu-sǒm-rót)
Tibetan: ཟླ་བོ (zla bo)
Turkish: eş (tr)
Ukrainian: супру́г m (suprúh), супру́га f (suprúha), чолові́к (uk) m (čolovík), дружи́на (uk) f (družýna), жі́нка (uk) f (žínka)
Vietnamese: (husband) chồng (vi) (𫯰), (wife) vợ (vi) (𡞕), (colloquial for both, own spouse only) nhà (vi) (茹)
Volapük: (♂♀) matan (vo), (♂) himatan (vo), (♀) jimatan (vo)
Welsh: priod (cy)
Yiddish: מיטשלעפֿער‎ m (mitshlefer), מיטשלעפֿערין‎ f (mitshleferin)

husband — see husband

wife — see wife

Verb

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

(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

to get married to — see espouse

Anagrams

opuses