Lavinia will I make my empress, . . .
And in the sacred Pantheon her espouse.
Shak.
3. To take to one's self with a view to maintain; to make one's own; to take up the cause of; to adopt; to embrace. "He espoused that quarrel." Bacon.
Promised faithfully to espouse his cause as soon as he got out of the war.
Bp. Burnet.
Es*pouse"ment (?), n. [Cf. OF. espousement.] The act of espousing, or the state of being espoused.
Es*pous"er (?), n. One who espouses; one who embraces the cause of another or makes it his own.
||Es`pres*si"vo (?), a. [It.] (Mus.) With expression.
Es*prin"gal (?), n. [See Springal.] (Mil. Antiq.) An engine of war used for throwing viretons, large stones, and other missiles; a springal.
||Es`prit" (?), n. [F. See Spirit.] Spirit.
Esprit de corps (&?;), a French phrase much used by English writers to denote the common spirit pervading the members of a body or association of persons. It implies sympathy, enthusiasm, devotion, and jealous regard for the honor of the body as a whole.
Es*py" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Espied (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Espying.] [OF. espier, F. épier, from OHG. speh&?;n to watch, spy, G. spähen; akin to L. specere to look, species sight, shape, appearance, kind. See Spice, Spy, and cf. Espionage.] 1. To catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes; to discover, as a distant object partly concealed, or not obvious to notice; to see at a glance; to discern unexpectedly; to spy; as, to espy land; to espy a man in a crowd.
As one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, . . . he espied his money.
Gen. xlii. 27.
A goodly vessel did I then espy
Come like a giant from a haven broad.
Wordsworth.