Hypertext Webster Gateway: "espousal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Espousal \Es*pous"al\, n. [OF. espousailles, pl., F.
['e]pousailles, L. sponsalia, fr. sponsalis belonging to
betrothal or espousal. See {Espouse}, and cf. {Sponsal},
{Spousal}.]
1. The act of espousing or betrothing; especially, in the
plural, betrothal; plighting of the troths; a contract of
marriage; sometimes, the marriage ceremony.
2. The uniting or allying one's self with anything;
maintenance; adoption; as, the espousal of a quarrel.
The open espousal of his cause. --Lord Orford.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
espousal
n 1: the act of becoming betrothed or engaged [syn: {betrothal}]
2: archaic terms for a wedding or wedding feast [syn: {bridal}]
3: the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception;
"its adoption by society"; "the proposal found wide
acceptance" [syn: {adoption}, {acceptance}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.