espouse

verb

es·​pouse i-ˈspau̇z 

 also  -ˈspau̇s

espoused; espousing

transitive verb

1

: marry

2

: to take up and support as a cause : become attached to

espouser noun

Did you know?

Commit to Learning the History of Espouse

As you might guess, the words espouse and spouse are hitched, both coming from the Latin verb spondēre, meaning “to promise” or “to betroth.” In fact, the two were once completely interchangeable, with each serving as a noun meaning “a newly married person” or “a husband or wife” and also as a verb meaning “to marry.” Their semantic separation began when the noun espouse fell out of use. Nowadays, espouse is most often encountered as a verb used in the figuratively extended sense “to commit to and support as a cause.”

Synonyms

• marry
• match
• wed

Choose the Right Synonym for espouse

adopt, embrace, espouse mean to take an opinion, policy, or practice as one's own.

adopt implies accepting something created by another or foreign to one's nature.

forced to adopt new policies

embrace implies a ready or happy acceptance.

embraced the customs of their new homeland

espouse adds an implication of close attachment to a cause and a sharing of its fortunes.

espoused the cause of women's rights

Examples of espouse in a Sentence

The new theory has been espoused by many leading physicists.

Those espousing unpopular views were often excluded.

Recent Examples on the Web

In the South Asian community, for example, pro-Palestinian progressive organizations have drawn parallels between the ideology of a Jewish state and Hindutva, a Hindu nationalist agenda espoused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. —Amy Qin, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024

Republicans have also continued espousing the belief that the US population is being systematically replaced by minorities, a conspiracy known as the great replacement. —David Gilbert, WIRED, 18 Apr. 2024

While China and North Korea both espouse socialist forms of government, the official rhetoric and practical implementation of these ideologies in the two nations is significantly different. —Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024

Its head, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, is one of the few regional power players who openly pay homage to Iran’s supreme leader as their organizations’ spiritual guide, although Hezbollah no longer espouses its early objective of establishing an Islamic state in Lebanon. —Suzanne Maloney, Foreign Affairs, 8 Apr. 2024

What are the specific ways in which the company is espousing sustainable design and architecture? —Kissa Castañeda, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

Still, the virtue of crate training puppies is espoused here in the United States, where crating often continues into a dog’s adult life. —Kelly Conaboy, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024

Panelists espoused how increasing happiness benefited the greater good: Happy people live longer, are healthier, more successful at work and are more likely to volunteer. —Calmatters, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024

That reactionary faction of the right continued to espouse affection for dictatorship even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when there was no longer an overriding foreign-policy justification for championing such regimes. —Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 1 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French espuser, from Late Latin sponsare to betroth, from Latin sponsus betrothed — more at spouse

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

espouse

verb

es·​pouse is-ˈpau̇z 

-ˈpau̇s

espoused; espousing

1

a

: marry entry 1 sense 2

b

: marry entry 1 sense 3

2

: to take up the cause of : support

espouser noun