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Commit to Learning the History of Espouse
As you might guess, the words espouse and spouse are hitched, both coming from the Latin verb spondēre, meaning “to promise” or “to betroth.” In fact, the two were once completely interchangeable, with each serving as a noun meaning “a newly married person” or “a partner in marriage” and also as a verb meaning “to marry.” Their semantic separation began when the noun espouse fell out of use. Nowadays, espouse is almost exclusively encountered as a verb used in the figuratively extended sense “to commit to and support as a cause.”
Examples of espouse in a Sentence
Megan Feringa, New York Times, 1 May 2026
The casting has always managed to feel diverse, but in a guileless, incidental way, giving the appearance of multicultural inclusion without espousing any explicitly progressive viewpoints.
—Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2026
Rather than focusing on the conspiracy theories Jones espoused, the new InfoWars will build its comedic base off a spoof of the old site’s predatory snake oil rackets.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 29 Apr. 2026
Campa-Najjar’s journey from espousing progressive positions to conservative ones and back again has required him to do a lot of explaining in recent years.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Espouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/espouse. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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