wife

wife
\ \ [OE] Wife originally meant simply ‘woman’, but the semantic restriction to ‘married woman’ began in the Old English period and has become more and more firmly established as the centuries have passed. Of the word’s Germanic relatives, German weib has largely been replaced by frau, and Dutch wijf, Swedish vif, and Danish viv are no longer front-line words. It is not known what its ultimate source was. A woman is etymologically a ‘wife-man’, that is, a ‘womanperson’, a ‘female-person’.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Wife — Wife, n.; pl. {Wives}. [OE. wif, AS. wif; akin to OFries. & OS. wif, D. wijf, G. weib, OHG. w[=i]b, Icel. v[=i]f, Dan. viv; and perhaps to Skr. vip excited, agitated, inspired, vip to tremble, L. vibrare to vibrate, E. vibrate. Cf. Tacitus, [… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • wife — W1S1 [waıf] n plural wives [waıvz] [: Old English; Origin: wif woman, wife ] the woman that a man is married to →↑husband, spouse ↑spouse ▪ Have you met my wife? ▪ a refuge for battered wives ▪ …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • wife|ly — «WYF lee», adjective, li|er, li|est. of a wife; like a wife; suitable for a wife. –wife´li|ness, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • WIFE — can refer to:* WIFE (AM), a radio station at 1580 AM licensed to Connersville, Indiana * WIFE FM, a radio station at 94.3 FM licensed to Rushville, Indiana * WMOJ FM, an FM radio station formerly known as WIFE FM from 1994 2006 …   Wikipedia

  • wife — [ waıf ] (plural wives [ waıvz ] ) noun count *** the woman that a man is married to: I d better phone my wife and tell her I ll be late. wife of: a reception for the wives of the ambassadors …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • wife — (n.) O.E. wif woman, from P.Gmc. *wiban (Cf. O.S., O.Fris. wif, O.N. vif, Dan., Swed. viv, M.Du., Du. wijf, O.H.G. wib, Ger. Weib), of uncertain origin. Du. wijf now means, in slang, girl, babe, having softened somewhat from earlier sense of… …   Etymology dictionary

  • wife — [wīf] n. pl. wives [wīvz] [ME < OE wif, woman, akin to Swed viv, Ger weib < ? IE base * weip , to twist, turn, wrap, in sense “the hidden or veiled person”] 1. a woman: still so used in such compounds as midwife, housewife, etc. 2. a… …   English World dictionary

  • wife — index consort, spouse Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • wife — has the plural form wives …   Modern English usage

  • wife — [n] married woman bride, companion, consort, helpmate, mate, monogamist, other half*, partner, roommate, spouse; concepts 414,415 Ant. husband …   New thesaurus

  • wife — ► NOUN (pl. wives) 1) a married woman considered in relation to her husband. 2) archaic or dialect a woman, especially an old or uneducated one. DERIVATIVES wifely adjective. ORIGIN Old English, «woman» …   English terms dictionary

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