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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Espouse \Es*pouse"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Espoused}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Espousing}.] [OF. espouser, esposer, F. ['e]pouser, L. sponsare to betroth, espouse, fr. sponsus betrothed, p. p. of spondere to promise solemnly or sacredly. Cf. {Spouse}.]
1. To betroth; to promise in marriage; to give as spouse.
A virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph. --Luke i. 27.
2. To take as spouse; to take to wife; to marry.
Lavinia will I make my empress, . . . And in the sacred Pantheon her espouse. --Shak.
3. To take to one's self with a view to maintain; to make one's own; to take up the cause of; to adopt; to embrace. ''He espoused that quarrel.'' --Bacon.
Promised faithfully to espouse his cause as soon as he got out of the war. --Bp. Burnet.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
espouse
verb
1: choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans; "She followed the feminist movement"; "The candidate espouses Republican ideals" [syn: {adopt}, {follow}]
2: take in marriage [syn: {marry}, {get married}, {wed}, {conjoin}, {hook up with}, {get hitched with}]
3: take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own; "She embraced Catholocism"; "They adopted the Jewish faith" [syn: {embrace}, {adopt}, {sweep up}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "espouse": accept, adopt, advocate, affiliate, allege in support, answer, approve, argue for, assert, back, be made one, be spliced, become one, campaign for, carry, catch, champion, contend for, contract matrimony, counter, couple, crusade for, defend, embrace, get hitched, go in for, intermarry, interwed, maintain, make a plea, marry, mate, miscegenate, pair off, pass, plead for, ratify, rebut, refute, remarry, reply, respond, rewed, riposte, say in defense, speak for, speak up for, stand up for, stick up for, support, sustain, take on, take to wife, take up, uphold, urge reasons for, wed, wive
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Espouse (2 Sam. 3:14), to betroth. The espousal was a ceremony of betrothing, a formal agreement between the parties then coming under obligation for the purpose of marriage. Espousals are in the East frequently contracted years before the marriage is celebrated. It is referred to as figuratively illustrating the relations between God and his people (Jer. 2:2; Matt. 1:18; 2 Cor. 11:2). (See {BETROTH}.)
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