espousal

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espousal

/əˈspaʊzl̩/

Rhymes with -aʊzəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English espousal, espousaille, from Old French espousailles, from Latin sponsalia (“a betrothal”), neuter plural of sponsalis, from spōnsus (“one betrothed, a spouse”); see spouse. By surface analysis, espouse + -al.

noun espousals

countable, uncountable A betrothal. So he pressed her again and again with advice on the matter of espousals; but she ever opposed to him refusals, till at last she turned upon him angrily and cried, "O my father, if thou name matrimony to me once more, I will go into my chamber and take a sword, and, fixing its hilt on the ground, wi
countable, uncountable A wedding ceremony.
countable, uncountable Adoption of a plan, cause, or idea.

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MLA

"espousal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/espousal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

espousal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/espousal

Chicago

"espousal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/espousal.

BibTeX

@misc{espousal_2026,
  title = {espousal},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/espousal},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}