espouse

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɪˈspaʊz/ UK /ɪˈspaʊz/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to adopt or support a cause, belief, or way of life

The party espouses sweeping reform of the tax code.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to adopt or support a... adopt embrace support advocate champion endorse back

Opposites

reject abandon oppose renounce disavow

Word family

Derived forms espousalespouser

Related forms spouse spousal

Etymology

From Old French espouser 'to marry', from Latin sponsare 'to betroth', from sponsus 'betrothed', past participle of spondere 'to promise solemnly, pledge'.

espouser Old French sponsare Latin spondere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# espouse

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪˈspaʊz/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪˈspaʊz/

## Meanings
1. to adopt or support a cause, belief, or way of life

## Examples
- The party espouses sweeping reform of the tax code.

## Synonyms
- adopt
- embrace
- support
- advocate
- champion
- endorse
- back

## Antonyms
- reject
- abandon
- oppose
- renounce
- disavow

## Derived Forms
- espousal
- espouser

## Related Forms
- spouse
- spousal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: espouser
- Root: sponsare
- Root: spondere

## Etymology
From Old French espouser 'to marry', from Latin sponsare 'to betroth', from sponsus 'betrothed', past participle of spondere 'to promise solemnly, pledge'.

## AI Etymology
Espouse is from Old French espouser 'to marry', from Latin sponsare 'to betroth', from sponsus 'betrothed', past participle of spondere 'to promise solemnly, pledge'. Important recorded forms include espouser (Old French), sponsare (Latin), and spondere (Latin). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers to adopt or support a cause, belief, or way of life. The wider family includes derived forms such as espousal and espouser and related words such as spouse and spousal.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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