Emily Dickinson Lexicon

E-SPOUSE', v.t. [espouz'; Fr. epouser; It. sposare; Port. desposar; Sp. desposar, to marry, desposarse, to be betrothed. If this word is the same radically as the L. spondeo, sponsus, the letter n, in the latter, must be casual, or the modern languages have lost the letter. The former is most probable; in which case, spondeo was primarily spodeo, sposus.]

1. To betroth. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph. Matth. i.
2. To betroth; to promise or engage in marriage, by contract in writing, or by some pledge; as, the king espoused his daughter to a foreign prince. Usually and properly followed by to, rather than with.
3. To marry; to wed. Shak. Milton.
4. To unite intimately or indissolubly. I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Cor. xi.
5. To embrace; to take to one's self, with a view to maintain; as, to espouse the quarrel of another; to espouse cause. Dryden.