spousal

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈspaʊzəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈspaʊzəl/, /ˈspaʊsəl/

Etymology 1

From spouse +‎ -al.

Adjective

spousal (comparative more spousal, superlative most spousal)

1. of or relating to marriage
2. of or relating to a spouse, spouses; to the relationship between spouses
   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     […] There ſhall wee conſummate our ſpousall rites.

Derived terms

• spousal abuse
• spousal support

Translations

of or relating to marriage

• Esperanto: geedza
• Polish: małżeński (pl)
• Volapük: matik (vo)

of or relating to a spouse, spouses

• Esperanto: geedza
• Ido: spozala (io)
• Volapük: (♂♀) matanik, (♂) himatanik, (♀) jimatanik

Etymology 2

From Middle English spousaille, from Old French esposaille, espousaille, espousalle, Anglo-Norman (e)spusaille, esposalie, sposale, spousaille.

Noun

spousal (plural spousals)

1. (obsolete, chiefly in the plural) Espousal; marriage; nuptials.
   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, book I, page 2:

     The Spouſals of Hippolita the Queen;

   • 1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “May-Day”, in May-Day and Other Pieces, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 17:

     Knowing well to celebrate / With song and hue and star and state, / With tender light and youthful cheer, / The spousals of the new-born year.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “spousal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)