Épous

Épous is not a standard French word and does not appear as an entry in major French dictionaries. It is not commonly used in contemporary French, and in most contexts it is likely the result of a typographical error, a truncation, or a misreading of related terms.

When encountered, épous is usually interpreted as a mistaken form of one of the closely related words connected with marriage: époux (the husband), épouse (the wife), or épouser (to marry). These are the established terms used in everyday language, legal contexts, and historical texts. If a text shows épous, readers and editors typically determine whether the intended meaning was one of these standard forms or whether the word is part of a compound, a proper noun, or a neologism.

In some older or dialectal writings, spellings vary and nonstandard forms may appear, but such occurrences are rare and do not establish épous as a recognized lexical item. It is therefore advisable to recheck the source, consider the surrounding words, and replace épous with the appropriate standard form if the intention is to convey marriage-related meaning, or to treat it as a potential proper noun if the context suggests a name or title.

If épous is found in a text without clear context, consult a reliable dictionary or linguistic reference and examine neighboring terms to decide whether the author meant époux, épouse, or épouser. See also: époux, épouse, épouser.