espouse

[ih-spouz, ih-spous]

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verb (used with object), es·poused, es·pous·ing.

to make one's own; adopt or embrace, as a cause.
to marry.
to give (a woman) in marriage.

Origin of espouse

1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French espouser < Latin spōnsāre to betroth, espouse

Related formses·pous·er, nounun·es·poused, adjective

Synonyms for espouse

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1. support, champion, advocate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for espoused

adopt, uphold, defend, advocate, maintain, embrace, approve, back, accept, champion, catch, betroth, unite, wed

Examples from the Web for espoused

Contemporary Examples of espoused

Pearce, Ready said, espoused “neo-Nazi philosophy completely.”
Jason Todd Ready, an Arizona White Supremacist, Kills Four, Then Himself
Terry Greene Sterling
May 3, 2012
Santorum espoused this worldview back in 2008, in a speech to Ave Maria University.
“Get Out!” Says Christian-Supremacist Pastor. Does Rick Santorum Agree?
Jay Michaelson
March 20, 2012
Certainly, Paine espoused suspicion of too-powerful states, which makes him eminently quotable by Tea Partiers now.
The Fight Over Common Sense
Sophia Rosenfeld
June 29, 2011
At that point I legitimately believed everything I espoused.
The Extinction Parade: An Original Zombie Story by Max Brooks
Max Brooks
January 14, 2011
The ideals are the greatest ever espoused in human history, and we just need the country to live up to them.
My Daddy, the Jailbird
Elizabeth Gates
July 22, 2009

Historical Examples of espoused

I do not ask your name, nor do I wish to know which cause you have espoused.
John Gayther's Garden and the Stories Told Therein
Frank R. Stockton
And especially, how would she be regarded by her espoused husband?
Jesus the Christ
James Edward Talmage
Eventually he returned to the party which he had espoused, and escaped to France.
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745.
Mrs. Thomson
Lately the Democrats have espoused "free silver," and the Republicans have "buried" them.
As A Chinaman Saw Us
Anonymous
He had been living all these years for himself, was it not time that he espoused some other motive?
A Little Girl in Old Salem
Amanda Minnie Douglas

British Dictionary definitions for espoused

espouse

verb (tr)

to adopt or give support to (a cause, ideal, etc)to espouse socialism
archaic (esp of a man) to take as spouse; marry

Derived Formsespouser, noun

Word Origin for espouse

C15: from Old French espouser, from Latin spōnsāre to affiance, espouse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for espoused

espouse

mid-15c., "to take as spouse, marry," from Old French espouser "marry, take in marriage, join in marriage" (11c., Modern French épouser), from Latin sponsare, past participle of spondere (see espousal).

Extended sense of "adopt, embrace" a cause, party, etc., is from 1620s. Related: Espoused; espouses; espousing. For initial e-, see especial.