spouse

Pronunciation

• IPA: /spaʊs/, /spaʊz/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English spuse, borrowed from Old French spus (feminine spuse), a variant of espous (modern French époux),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin spōnsus (“bridegroom”) and spōnsa (“bride”), the masculine and feminine past participles of spondeō (“to betroth, promise solemnly”),^[2][6][3][1] from Proto-Indo-European *spend- (“to make an offering, perform a rite”) (see sponsor).^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A married woman, a wife: probably before 1200 in Barnhart, about 1200 in the OED.^[2][7] Etymonline gives either partner of a married pair, especially the wife, about 1200.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A husband or bridegroom is also recorded about 1200 in the OED,^[7] while Barnhart's first example is about 1225, in King Horn.^[2] From about 1200 the Church or a nun was called the spouse of Christ, and God or Christ the spouse of the Church or the soul.^[7] The married state, wedlock, is an obsolete sense from about 1250.^[7] The verb, to marry, is from about 1290,^[7] and is now obsolete.^[1] Spouse-breach (early 13th century) was an old name for adultery.^[6] In an old Scots phrase, to spouse one's fortune was to put it out to nurse.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – a wife; a husband.^[7]
• c. 1200 – spouse of Christ.^[7]
• early 13th century – spouse-breach, adultery.^[6]
• c. 1250 – wedlock (obsolete).^[7]
• c. 1290 – to spouse, marry.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A partner in marriage; a husband or wife.

Verb

1. (obsolete) To marry.

Word family

• spousal
• spousehood
• spouseless

Related words

• espouse
• sponsor
• respond

References

1. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)