Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “spous” come from?

spous (Middle English) comes from Old French espos, from Latin spōnsus, from Latin spondeō, from Proto-Italic spondeō, from Proto-Indo-European spondéyeti, from Proto-Indo-European spend- — to libate.

Ancestry of “spous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchesposhusband
2Latinspōnsus—
3Latinspondeō—
4Proto-Italicspondeōto promise, to pledge
5Proto-Indo-Europeanspondéyeti—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanspend-to libate

Words derived from “spous”

  • spouse
  • spousal
  • interspousal
  • spouseless
  • spousally
  • spousebreach
  • housespouse
  • spousess
  • spousely
  • spousedom
Every word from Proto-Indo-European spend- →