époux

Époux is a French noun meaning the husband or, more broadly, a spouse. The feminine counterpart is épouse, referring to the wife. The plural form les époux can denote the two spouses collectively, especially in formal or legal contexts, such as official documents or marital announcements.

In everyday language, people typically use mon mari for a husband and ma femme for a wife, but époux remains common in legal, administrative, and formal writing. The term frequently appears in civil-status acts, marriage contracts, and inheritance or succession contexts, where it may appear as époux survivants (surviving spouses) or when referring to the couple as such.

Etymology and relation to other terms: époux is derived from the verb épouser, meaning to marry. The pair époux and épouse reflects the gendered distinction in French for the participants in a marriage; while époux designates the man, épouse designates the woman. In legal language, the term can carry formal or objective nuance, focusing on the spousal relationship rather than individual identity.

See also: conjoint, mari, épouse, partenaire, contrat de mariage, droit successoral.