Adjacent Words

Espousal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ESPOUS'AL, a. espouz'al. [See Espouse.] Used in or relating to the act of espousing or betrothing.
ESPOUS'AL, n. The act of espousing or betrothing.
1. Adoption; protection.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: archaic terms for a wedding or wedding feast [syn: bridal, espousal]
2: the act of becoming betrothed or engaged [syn: betrothal, espousal]
3: the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception; "its adoption by society"; "the proposal found wide acceptance" [syn: adoption, acceptance, acceptation, espousal]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century 1. a. betrothal b. wedding c. marriage 2. a taking up or adopting of a cause or belief

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 (foll. by of) the espousing of a cause etc. 2 archaic a marriage or betrothal. Etymology: ME f. OF espousailles f. L sponsalia neut. pl. of sponsalis (as ESPOUSE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Espousal Es*pous"al, n. [OF. espousailles, pl., F. ['e]pousailles, L. sponsalia, fr. sponsalis belonging to betrothal or espousal. See Espouse, and cf. Sponsal, Spousal.] 1. The act of espousing or betrothing; especially, in the plural, betrothal; plighting of the troths; a contract of marriage; sometimes, the marriage ceremony. 2. The uniting or allying one's self with anything; maintenance; adoption; as, the espousal of a quarrel. The open espousal of his cause. --Lord Orford.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

A government's or person's espousal of a particular policy, cause, or belief is their strong support of it. (FORMAL) ...the Slovene leadership's espousal of the popular causes of reform and nationalism. N-SING: usu poss N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Espousing, betrothing, affiancing, plighting. 2. Adoption, defence, support, maintenance.

Moby Thesaurus

Gretna Green wedding, acceptance, adoption, advocacy, affiance, affiliation, aid, approval, banns, banns of matrimony, betrothal, betrothing, betrothment, bridal, bridal suite, bridechamber, chuppah, church wedding, civil ceremony, civil wedding, elopement, embracement, embracing, engagement, epithalamium, espousals, espousement, forced marriage, handfasting, honeymoon, hymen, hymeneal, hymeneal rites, marriage, marriage contract, mating, nuptial apartment, nuptial mass, nuptial song, nuptials, plighted faith, plighted troth, promotion, prothalamium, saffron veil, shotgun wedding, spousal, spousals, support, troth, union, wedding, wedding canopy, wedding song, wedding veil