Daily Ancestorépouse
Épouse means "wife" or "bride" in French; in a record it names a married woman, as in épouse de, wife of.
Épouse is the female form of époux. In marriage entries it is the bride, and elsewhere it identifies a married woman through her husband, as in Justine Lacasse, épouse de Anaclet Racicot. French civil birth records name the mother by her maiden surname, so the husband's name follows épouse rather than replacing hers.
Femme, literally woman, is used the same way for wife.
As seen in a recordFrench civil birth record, mother's line, 1850s
Justine Lacasse, épouse de Anaclet Racicot, tonnelier, âgée de vingt-huit ans
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Daily Ancestor. "épouse." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/french/epouse. Last checked 2026-10-28.