spouse
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]Noun
[edit]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, stanza 21:
- At last such grace I found, and meanes I wrought, / That I that Ladie to my spouse had wonne
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]person in a marriage or marital relationship
|
husband — see husband
wife — see wife
Verb
[edit]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
[edit]to get married to — see espouse
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
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- Rhymes:English/aʊs
- Rhymes:English/aʊs/1 syllable
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- Rhymes:English/aʊz/1 syllable
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- en:Family members
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