Forms: α. 4 spusail(e, -eil, spusseayl; sposayle, -eyl, -eil, 4–5 -ail(e; spousaile, 4–6 -ayl(e, 4–7 -ail; 4–5 spousaille, 5 -ayll(e; 4–5 spowsail(e, -ayle, etc. β. 5 spousel(le, pl. spouselx, 5–6 spousale, 5– spousal, 6–7 spousall. [ad. OF. espus-, espos-, espousaille (freq. in pl.): see ESPOUSAL.]
† 1. The condition of being espoused or married; the married state; wedlock. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 13710. Þis womman þe band has broken of hir sposail.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, x. (Matthew), 333. For gud spousale is plesand thinge to god.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Clerk’s T., 115. Boweth youre nekke vnder the blisful yok Of soueraynetee … Which þat men clepeth spousaille or wedlok.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 31. Thou seist thou haddist in yong age wantonnesse, Therfore in olde age the nedithe have trewe spousaille.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., II. x. 75. Whose emptie place the mightie Oberon Doubly supplide, in spousall, and dominion.
fig. c. 1450. Myrr. our Ladye, 138. That speketh of the spousayle that ys betwene oure lorde Iesu cryste and holy chyrche.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., V. ii. 390. So be there ’twixt your Kingdomes such a Spousall, That neuer may ill Office or fell Iealousie … Thrust in between the Pa[c]tion of these Kingdomes.
Comb. 1621. Brathwait, Nat. Embassie (1877), 280. One spousall-lothing, one her honour louing.
† b. In vbl. phrases, as to break or spill spousal, to be unfaithful to the marriage vow, to commit adultery; to hold spousal, to keep the marriage vow.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28486. Mi spuseil haf i broken rire, And ledd þe wers my spused wife.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 1622. Grete mede he getyþ with-oute fayle Þat wele wyl holde hys spousayle.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 12736. Whille he faryn was to fight in a fer lond, Sho spilt hade hir spousaile.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, II. v. (MS. Bodl. 263). How trewe spousaile … In your cite was broke.
2. The action of espousing or marrying; the celebration of a marriage or betrothal; an instance or occasion of this. Now arch.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 10781. Thoru þe spusail þat was mad þar Was mani broght to ioi fra care.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 308. As þe courte of Rome had ordeynd þat spousale, Right opon þat dome he weddid hir sanzfaile.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 181. Envie tho began travaile In destourbance of this spousaile.
1447. Bokenham, Seyntys (Roxb.), 51. And yr þe knot be now undo Of oure spousayle.
1458. Paston Lett., I. 425. The seyd Kyng ys decesed wythynne thys vj. wekes, or the spouselle was made.
1544. trans. Littleton’s Tenures, 85. Where … after the spousayle he hath yssue by the same woman a sonne.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. ii. 23. My hoped day of spousall shone.
1667. Milton, P. L., VIII. 519. Till the amorous Bird of Night Sung Spousal, and bid haste the Evning Starr.
1833. Mrs. Browning, Prometh. Bound, Poems 1850, I. 169. Why lengthen out thy maiden hours, when fate Permits the noblest spousal in the world?
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, lxiv. 158. Hadst not a will with spousal an honour’d wife to receive me?
b. Freq. in pl. spousals.
a. 1325. MS. Rawl. B. 520, fol. 61. Ȝif matrimonie or sposailes weren forth lad in assise.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 308. Now have I told of the spousailes.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 40. Al that wedlok askethe and spowsayles, Al was redy to plesaunt apparailes.
1492. Rolls of Parlt., vi. 450/1. After the Spouselx betwene him and the said Anne.
1531. Elyot, Gov., II. xii. Not withstandyng any ceremonye doone at the time of the spousayles, the mariage … is not confirmed, vntyll at nyght.
1590. Swinburne, Testaments, 48. Al the goods and cattels personal that the wife had at the time of the spousals, or celebration of the mariage.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 649. You may feast with them at their spousals, and againe, after a view of their liues, at their funerals.
1669. Dryden, Tyrannic Love, V. i. Ethereal music did her death prepare, Like joyful sounds of spousals in the air.
1743. Francis, trans. Hor., Odes, III. v. 9. Could they to foreign spousals meanly yield, Whom Crassus led with honor to the field?
1805. Southey, Madoc, II. 94. Four maids, the loveliest of the land, are given In spousals.
1832. Lytton, Eugene A., II. i. By the end of the ensuing month it was agreed that the spousals of the lovers should be held.
1874. Symonds, Sk. Italy & Greece (1898), I. xiii. 279. With the morrow the Church blessed the spousals.
fig. 1857. Emerson, Poems, 48. Knowing well to celebrate … The spousals of the new-born year.
† c. Performance of the marriage ceremony. Obs.
a. 1450. Myrc, Par. Pr., 532. Þe .vij. sacramentes of holy chyrche,… Ordere of prest, and spousayle, And þe laste elynge.
† 3. A wedding gift or present; a dowry, Obs.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Kings xviii. 25. The kyng nedith no sposeilis [L. sponsalia], but oonli an hundrid tersis of Philisteis.
14[?]. Sir Beues, 4277 (M.). Vnto sir Myles was she wed. The kyng gaue Myles in spousayll The Erle-dome of Cornwayll.
