903: espouse and spouse May 29, 2017

The verb, to espouse, something means to support a belief, while the noun, spouse, is a married partner to someone. If today, one wanted to express that noun as a verb, there are plenty of ways to say that, including, 'wed' or 'engaged' or others depending on the situation, so there isn't much need for a new way to express this, but historically, 'espouse' was synonymous with 'marry'. That word originated as a participle from the Latin verb 'spondere' meaning 'betroth', and even when 'espouse' meant 'wed', it tended be be found as 'be espoused to', just like it would have been translated from Latin. Though of the pair, only 'spouse' kept its association with marriage, 'wed' has gained the sense of being attached to an idea separate from marriage, similar to 'espouse'.