Etymograph

English

spouse

Spouse comes from Latin spōnsus ‘bridegroom’, from spondeō ‘to vow, pledge’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spend- ‘to libate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spend-1‘to libate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spondéyeti2reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spondejō2reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spondeō2reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspondeō1‘to vow, pledge’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspōnsus1‘bridegroom’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400espus1
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spous1
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1590spouse1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English spouse
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin spondeo
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IV: “At last such grace I found, and meanes I…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spend-Wiktionary, English spouse‘to libate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spondéyetiWiktionary, Latin spondeoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spondejōWiktionary, Latin spondeoreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spondeōWiktionary, Latin spondeoreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspondeōWiktionary, English spouse‘to vow, pledge’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspōnsusWiktionary, English spouse‘bridegroom’
  7. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400espusWiktionary, English spouse
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500spousWiktionary, English spouse
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1590spouseWiktionary, English spouse. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IV: “At last such grace I found, and meanes I…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *spondeō

correspond, 7 more

through Latin spondeō ‘to vow, pledge’

responsible, response, respond, sponsor, despondent, 8 more

Today it means

noun A person in a marriage or marital relationship.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “spouse”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin spondeo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *spend- / spouse

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