noun
Meaning 1
A person in a marriage or marital relationship.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- People should treat their spouses with respect.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
spouse
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/spaʊ̯s/
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/spaʊ̯z/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -aʊs
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rhymes with -aʊz
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CMU ARPABET: S P AW1 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To wed; to espouse.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
a person's partner in marriage
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: partner, married person, mate, better half
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: domestic partner, significant other, spousal equivalent, spouse equivalent, relative, relation
Narrower terms: bigamist, consort, helpmate, helpmeet, husband, hubby, married man, monogamist, monogynist, newlywed, honeymooner, polygamist, wife, married woman
History
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 (“to vow, pledge”), from Proto-Indo-European *spend-. Displaced native Old English ġemaca. Related to espouse and sponsor.
Across languages
Translations
177 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: re — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Albanian: nuse — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Arabic: زَوْج (zawj) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Arabic: زَوْجَة (zawja) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Arabic: جوز (gōz) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Arabic: جوزة (gōza) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Armenian: ամուսին (amusin) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Azerbaijani: yoldaş — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Bashkir: хәләл ефет (xələl yefet) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Bashkir: иптәш (iptəş) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Basque: ezkonlagun — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Basque: ezkontide — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Belarusian: сужэ́нец (sužénjec) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Belarusian: муж (muž) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Belarusian: жо́нка (žónka) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Belarusian: сужэ́нка (sužénka) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Central Bikol: agom — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Breton: pried — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Bulgarian: съпру́г (sǎprúg) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Bulgarian: съпру́га (sǎprúga) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Bulgarian: мъж (mǎž) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Bulgarian: жена́ (žená) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Catalan: cònjuge — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Catalan: espòs — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Catalan: esposa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Cebuano: asawa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Chinese Mandarin: 配偶 (pèi'ǒu) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Czech: choť — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Czech: choť — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Czech: manžel — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Czech: muž — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Czech: manželka — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Czech: žena — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Danish: ægtefælle — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Danish: mage — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Dutch: echtgenoot — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Dutch: eega — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Dutch: wederhelft — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Dutch: gade — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Dutch: huwelijkspartner — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Esperanto: geedzo — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Esperanto: spozo — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Estonian: abikaasa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ewe: srɔ̃ — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Faroese: maki — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Finnish: puoliso — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Finnish: aviopuoliso — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Finnish: siippa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- French: époux — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- French: épouse — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Galician: cónxuxe — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Galician: consorte — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Georgian: მეუღლე (meuɣle) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- German: Gatte — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- German: Gattin — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- German: Ehepartner — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- German: Ehepartnerin — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Greek: σύζυγος (sýzygos) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Hebrew: בֶּן זוּג (ben zúg) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Hebrew: בַּת זוּג (bat zúg) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Hindi: जीवन साथी (jīvan sāthī) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Hungarian: házastárs — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Hungarian: élettárs — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Hungarian: hitves — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Icelandic: maki — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ido: spozo — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ilocano: asawa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Irish: céile — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Italian: sposo — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Italian: sposa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Italian: coniuge — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Italian: consorte — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Japanese: 配偶者 (haigūsha) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Japanese: 伴侶 (hanryo) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Javanese: bojo — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Javanese: garwa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Kapampangan: asaua — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Kazakh: жұбай (jūbai) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Kazakh: зайып (zaiyp) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Korean: 배우자 (bae'uja) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Northern Kurdish: hevser — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Northern Kurdish: hevjîn — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Northern Kurdish: jinûmêr — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Kyrgyz: жубай (jubay) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Lao: ຄູ່ສົມລົດ (khū som lot) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Latin: coniūnx — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Latin: marītus — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Latin: marīta — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Latin: uxor — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Latin: vir — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Latvian: dzīvesbiedrs — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Latvian: dzīvesbiedre — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Latvian: dzīvesbiedrene — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Macedonian: сопружник (sopružnik) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Macedonian: брачен другар (bračen drugar) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Macedonian: сопруг (soprug) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Macedonian: сопруга (sopruga) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Malay: pasangan — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Malay: teman hidup — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Mansaka: asawa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Māori: āwhai — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Māori: makau — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Māori: hoa mārena — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Navajo: bił hinishnáanii — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Norwegian Bokmål: ektefelle — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Norwegian Bokmål: ektemake — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Norwegian Nynorsk: ektefelle — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Norwegian Nynorsk: ektemake — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ojibwe: niwiidigemaagan — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Old English: ġemaca — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Pangasinan: asawa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Persian: همسر (hamsar) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Polish: małżonek — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Polish: małżonka — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Polish: mąż — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Polish: żona — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Portuguese: cônjuge — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Portuguese: esposo — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Portuguese: esposa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Russian: супру́г (suprúg) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Russian: супру́га (suprúga) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Scottish Gaelic: cèile — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Scottish Gaelic: fear-cèile — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Scottish Gaelic: bean-chèile — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Serbo-Croatian: су̏пруг — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Serbo-Croatian: су̏пруга — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Serbo-Croatian: му̑ж — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Serbo-Croatian: жѐна — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Serbo-Croatian: sȕprug — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Serbo-Croatian: sȕpruga — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Serbo-Croatian: mȗž — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Serbo-Croatian: žèna — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Seri: aal — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Slovak: manžel — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Slovak: manželka — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Slovak: muž — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Slovak: žena — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Slovene: soprọ̑g — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Slovene: mọ̑ž — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Slovene: žéna — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Spanish: cónyuge — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Spanish: consorte — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Spanish: cónyugue — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Spanish: prójimo — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Spanish: oíslo — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Swedish: äkta make — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Swedish: äkta maka — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Tagalog: asawa — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Tajik: ҳамсар (hamsar) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Thai: คู่สมรส (kûu-sǒm-rót) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Tibetan: ཟླ་བོ (zla bo) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Turkish: eş — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ottoman Turkish: اش (eş) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ottoman Turkish: زوج (zevc) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ottoman Turkish: عرس (ʿırs) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ukrainian: супру́г (suprúh) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ukrainian: супру́га (suprúha) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ukrainian: чолові́к (čolovík) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ukrainian: дружи́на (družýna) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Ukrainian: жі́нка (žínka) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Urdu: شریک حیات (śarīk-e-hayāt) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Urdu: محرم (mahram) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Urdu: جیون ساتھی (jīvan-sāthī) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Urdu: زوج (zoj) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Urdu: ہمسفر (hamsafar) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Urdu: رفیق حیات (rafīq-e-hayāt) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Urdu: ہمسر (hamsar) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Vietnamese: chồng — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Vietnamese: vợ — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Vietnamese: nhà — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Vietnamese: phối ngẫu — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Volapük: matan — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Volapük: himatan — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Volapük: jimatan — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Welsh: priod — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Yiddish: מיטשלעפֿער (mitshlefer) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
- Yiddish: מיטשלעפֿערין (mitshleferin) — person in a marriage or marital relationship
Real reading context