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wife
1[wahyf]
noun
plural
wivesa married woman, especially when considered in relation to her partner in marriage.
a woman (archaic or dial., except in idioms).
old wives' tale.
verb (used with or without object)
Rare.wive.
-wife
2a combining form of wife, now unproductive, occurring in compound words that in general designate traditional roles or occupations of women.
fishwife; goodwife; housewife; midwife.
wife
/ ɲɪ /
noun
a man's partner in marriage; a married woman
an archaic or dialect word for woman
to marry (a woman)
Other Word Forms
- wifedom noun
- wifeless adjective
- wifelessness noun
- ˈɾڱ adjective
- ˈɾڱǴǻ noun
- ˈɾڱԱ noun
- ˈɾڱ adjective
- ˈɾڱˌ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of wife1
Word History and Origins
Origin of wife1
Idioms and Phrases
take to wife, to marry (a particular woman).
He took an heiress to wife.
Example Sentences
A year before, Davis and his wife, sculptor Karon Davis, joined four storefronts on Washington Boulevard in Arlington Heights to create the Underground Museum.
He also wounded State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife at their home.
A man who is accused of killing a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband, and injuring another state lawmaker and his wife, allegedly attempted to kill two other state lawmakers, Minnesota officials said on Monday.
Marieangela King, Allman’s estranged wife, expressed support for her husband and spoke about his “unwavering commitment to sobriety and his loyalty to those he loves” in a statement to People.
Authorities say he then targeted state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their home, about nine miles from the Hortmans.
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When To Use
A wife is a married woman.The word wife is often used when a woman’s marital status is important to the current topic. For example, a man might explain to a salesperson that he is looking for a present for his wife, which is a lot more helpful than saying he is buying a gift for “a woman.”The plural of wife is wives. A man who is married is called a husband. A woman whose marital partner has died is called a widow.
- Real-life examples: Queen Isabella I of Castille was the wife of King Ferdinand II of Aragon. King Henry VIII infamously had six wives (but one at a time!). If you are married to a woman, then she is your wife.
- Used in a sentence: My uncle has never been married and says he has no interest in finding a wife.
- Used in a sentence: The documentary explored the lives of prison wives.
When To Use
The combining form -wife is used like a suffix to mean “wife" or, more generally, "woman." It’s used in a variety of terms, especially in reference to professions, but it’s relatively uncommon except for in a few words.The form -wife comes from Old English ī, meaning “woman.” ī was eventually combined with mann, which was then a gender-neutral term for an adult person, to create īmann, the source of the modern word woman. Want to know more? Check out our Words That Use entry for -woman. are variants of -wife?Just as the word wives is used as a plural form of the word wife, the ending -wives is often used as a plural form of -wife, as in midwives.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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