ESPOUSE, verb transitive espouz'. [Latin spondeo, sponsus, the letter n, in the latter, must be casual, or the modern languages have lost the letter. The former is most probable; in which case, spondeo was primarily spodeo, sposus.] 1. To betroth. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph. Matthew 1:18. 2. To betroth; to promise or engage in marriage, by contract in writing, or by some pledge; as, the king espoused his daughter to a foreign prince. Usually and properly followed by to, rather than with. 3. To marry; to wed. 4. To unite intimately or indissolubly. I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2. 5. To embrace; to take to one's self, with a view to maintain; as, to espouse the quarrel of another; to espouse a cause.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI