Spouse

In a family, a spouse was simply a person to whom another was married, generally as a life partner. (ENT: "Babel One"; VOY: "Alter Ego") In many cases, the term may be synonymous with mate. (ENT: "Carbon Creek")

Familial relationships[]

Female[]

A female spouse was known as a wife or a bride. A wife whose spouse was deceased was a widow, while a divorced wife was known as an ex-wife. (Star Trek, TOS: "Wolf in the Fold"; VOY: "Fair Haven"; DS9: "Rejoined")

Beverly Crusher became a widow at the age of thirty. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint")

Enina Tandro became a widow when her husband, General Ardelon Tandro, died. (DS9: "Dax")

Jett Reno was a widow due to her wife dying in the Federation-Klingon War of 2256-57. (DIS: "Through the Valley of Shadows")

Male[]

A male spouse was known as a husband or (bride)groom. (TOS: "Plato's Stepchildren", "Elaan of Troyius"; TNG: "Haven", "Cost Of Living", Star Trek Nemesis) A husband of a deceased spouse was a widower, while a divorced husband was known as an ex-husband. (ENT: "Storm Front"; TNG: "Dark Page", "Unification II", "All Good Things...")

While he and Kevin Riley were beginning to suffer from polywater intoxication in 2266, Hikaru Sulu remarked that, for reasons not yet known to him, he was "sweating like a bridegroom", possibly attributing it to Psi 2000 or Joe Tormolen's death. Riley admitted the same was true of him, too. (TOS: "The Naked Time")

Tavnian weddings required the groom to stand before the bride and, with family and friends as audience, explain why he wished to marry her, thus convincing her to do so. If anyone doubted his sincerity, they could challenge whether the marriage was valid or not. (DS9: "The Muse")

Jadzia Dax, or rather the Dax symbiont, had gone through two Trill weddings as a groom by 2374. (DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited")

Other[]

Additional terms existed for polygamous relationships, as was the case in the Bolian culture which identified co-husbands. (DS9: "Field of Fire") In the case of Denobulans, one would refer to their spouse as their "third husband", "second wife", etc., or the relationship between two male spouses as "my first wife's third husband." (ENT: "Stigma", "Zero Hour")

Customs[]

According to T'Pol, in Vulcan culture, "it was customary for a husband and wife to reside together for at least one Vulcan year." (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")

In Trill culture, in order for the symbiont to move on from host to host, it has to learn to let go of the previous host's past, including parents, siblings, children, and spouses. (DS9: "Rejoined", "Afterimage")

On Cardassia, the spouse of an offender was the only friend or family member solely privileged to attend a Cardassian tribunal trial. (DS9: "Tribunal")

In Klingon culture, lovers could be considered “mates” and members of one family even without the formality of a marriage. Despite never marrying, Worf was able to claim K'Ehleyr as his mate and invoked the Right of Vengeance upon her death. (TNG: "Reunion")

Examples[]

External links[]

• Spouse at Wikipedia
• Husband at Wikipedia
• Wife at Wikipedia
• Widow at Wikipedia
• Bridegroom at Wikipedia