spouse

English

Etymology

From Middle English spous, spouse, from Anglo-Norman espus m, espuse f and Old French espos m, espose f and by aphesis from Latin spōnsus m (“bridegroom”), spōnsa f (“bride”), from spondeō (“I vow, pledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *spend-. Displaced native Old English ġemaca.

Related to espouse and sponsor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spaʊ̯s/, /spaʊ̯z/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊs, -aʊz
• Hyphenation: spouse

Noun

spouse (plural spouses)

1. A person in a marriage or marital relationship.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:spouse

   Hyponyms: husband, wife

   People should treat their spouses with respect.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 21:

     At last such grace I found, and meanes I wrought, / That I that Ladie to my spouse had wonne

Derived terms

• military spouse
• pretermitted spouse
• spousal (adjective)
• surviving spouse
• work spouse

 

Translations

person in a marriage or marital relationship

• Arabic: زَوْج m (zawj), زَوْجَة f (zawja)

  Egyptian Arabic: جوز m (gōz), جوزة f (gōza)

• Armenian: ամուսին (hy) (amusin)
• Azerbaijani: yoldaş (az)
• Bashkir: хәләл ефет (xələl yefet), иптәш (iptəş)
• Basque: ezkonlagun (eu), ezkontide (eu)
• Belarusian: сужэ́нец m (sužénjec), муж m (muž), жо́нка f (žónka), сужэ́нка f (sužénka)
• Bikol Central: agom (bcl)
• Breton: pried (br)
• Bulgarian: съпру́г (bg) m (sǎprúg), съпру́га (bg) f (sǎprúga), мъж (bg) m (mǎž), жена́ (bg) f (žená)
• Catalan: cònjuge (ca), espòs (ca) m, esposa (ca) f
• Cebuano: asawa
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 配偶 (zh) (pèi'ǒu)

• Czech: choť (cs) m, choť (cs) f, manžel (cs) m, muž (cs) m, manželka (cs) f, žena (cs) f
• Danish: ægtefælle (da) c, mage (da) c (joking)
• Dutch: echtgenoot (nl), eega (nl), wederhelft (nl), gade (nl), huwelijkspartner (nl)
• Esperanto: geedzo (eo), spozo (eo)
• Estonian: abikaasa (et)
• Ewe: srɔ̃
• Faroese: maki m
• Finnish: puoliso (fi), aviopuoliso (fi), (informal) siippa (fi)
• French: époux (fr) m, épouse (fr) f
• Galician: cónxuxe (gl) m or f, consorte m or f
• Georgian: მეუღლე (meuɣle)
• German: Gatte (de) m, Gattin (de) f, Ehepartner (de) m, Ehepartnerin (de) f
• Greek: σύζυγος (el) m or f (sýzygos)
• Hebrew: בֶּן זוּג (he) m (ben zúg), בַּת זוּג (he) f (bat zúg)
• Hindi: जीवन साथी (jīvan sāthī)
• Hungarian: házastárs (hu), élettárs (hu), hitves (hu)
• Icelandic: maki m
• Ido: spozo (io)
• Ilocano: asawa
• Irish: céile m
• Italian: sposo (it) m, sposa (it) f, coniuge (it) m or f, consorte (it) m or f
• Japanese: 配偶者 (ja) (はいぐうしゃ, haigūsha), 伴侶 (ja) (hanryo)
• Javanese: bojo (jv), garwa
• Kapampangan: asaua
• Kazakh: жұбай (jūbai), зайып (zaiyp)
• Korean: 배우자(配偶者) (ko) (bae'uja)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hevser (ku) pl or m or f, hevjîn (ku) pl or m or f, jinûmêr (ku) pl

• Kyrgyz: жубай (ky) (jubay)
• Lao: ຄູ່ສົມລົດ (khū som lot)
• Latin: coniūnx (la) m or f, marītus (la) m, (wife) marīta f, uxor (la) f, vir (la) m
• Latvian: dzīvesbiedrs m, dzīvesbiedre f, dzīvesbiedrene f
• Macedonian: сопружник m (sopružnik), брачен другар m (bračen drugar) (generic), сопруг m (soprug), сопруга f (sopruga)
• Malay: pasangan (ms), teman hidup
• Mansaka: asawa
• Maori: āwhai, makau, hoa mārena
• Navajo: bił hinishnáanii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ektefelle m, ektemake m

  Nynorsk: ektefelle m, ektemake m

• Ojibwe: niwiidigemaagan
• Old English: ġemaca m
• Ottoman Turkish: اش (eş), زوج (zevc), عرس (ʿırs)
• Pangasinan: asawa
• Persian: همسر (fa) (hamsar)
• Polish: małżonek (pl) m, małżonka (pl) f, mąż (pl) m, żona (pl) f
• Portuguese: cônjuge (pt) m, esposo (pt) m, esposa (pt) f
• Russian: супру́г (ru) m (suprúg), супру́га (ru) f (suprúga)
• Scottish Gaelic: cèile (gd) m or n, fear-cèile m, bean-chèile f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: су̏пруг m, су̏пруга f, му̑ж m, жѐна f

  Roman: sȕprug (sh) m, sȕpruga (sh) f, mȗž (sh) m, žèna (sh) f

• Seri: aal
• Slovak: manžel (sk) m, manželka (sk) f, muž (sk) m, žena (sk) f
• Slovene: soprọ̑g (sl) m, mọ̑ž (sl) m, žéna (sl) f
• Spanish: cónyuge (es) m or f, consorte (es) m or f
• Swedish: (male) äkta make c, (female) äkta maka (sv) c
• Tagalog: asawa (tl)
• Tajik: ҳамсар (hamsar)
• Thai: คู่สมรส (th) (kûu-sǒm-rót)
• Tibetan: ཟླ་བོ (zla bo)
• Turkish: eş (tr)
• Ukrainian: супру́г m (suprúh), супру́га f (suprúha), чолові́к (uk) m (čolovík), дружи́на (uk) f (družýna), жі́нка (uk) f (žínka)
• Urdu: شریک حیات (śarīk-e-hayāt), محرم (mahram), جیون ساتھی (jīvan-sāthī), زوج (zoj), ہمسفر (hamsafar), رفیق حیات (rafīq-e-hayāt), ہمسر (hamsar)
• Vietnamese: (husband) chồng (vi) (𫯰), (wife) vợ (vi) (𡞕), (colloquial for both, own spouse only) nhà (vi) (茹)
• Volapük: (♂♀) matan (vo), (♂) himatan (vo), (♀) jimatan (vo)
• Welsh: priod (cy)
• Yiddish: מיטשלעפֿער m (mitshlefer), מיטשלעפֿערין f (mitshleferin)

husband — see husband

wife — see wife

Verb

spouse (third-person singular simple present spouses, present participle spousing, simple past and past participle spoused)

1. (dated) To wed; to espouse.
   • 1819, John Keats, Otho the Great, act III, scene II, verses 212-214:

     Do you stand possess’d
     Of any proof against the honourableness
     Of Lady Auranthe, our new-spoused daughter?

Translations

to get married to — see espouse

Anagrams

• opuses