espousal
/əˈspaʊzl̩/noun
espousal is spelled E-S-P-O-U-S-A-L: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 150,355th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, espousal means “A betrothal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of espousal is espousals.
How many letters and syllables are in espousal?
| Letters | 8: E-S-P-O-U-S-A-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 25 million words; the 150,355th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is espousal?
Espousal appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 150,355th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce espousal?
- /əˈspaʊzl̩/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-espousal.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of espousal
- espousals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does espousal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A betrothal.
- 2
A wedding ceremony.
- 3
Adoption of a plan, cause, or idea.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does espousal come from?
From Middle English espousal, espousaille, from Old French espousailles, from Latin sponsalia (“a betrothal”), neuter plural of sponsalis, from spōnsus (“one betrothed, a spouse”); see spouse. By surface analysis, espouse + -al.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).