Espousal
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A betrothal. countable, uncountable
"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, will set its point to my waist; then I will press upon it, till it come forth from my back, and so slay myself.""
- 2 the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception wordnet
- 3 A wedding ceremony. countable, uncountable
- 4 the act of becoming betrothed or engaged wordnet
- 5 Adoption of a plan, cause, or idea. countable, uncountable
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- 6 archaic terms for a wedding or wedding feast wordnet
Example
More examples"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, will set its point to my waist; then I will press upon it, till it come forth from my back, and so slay myself.""
Etymology
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.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.