Adjacent Words

Wife definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

WIFE, n. plu. Wives. [G., a woman.]
1. The lawful consort of man; a woman who is united to man in the lawful bonds of wedlock; the correlative of husband.
The husband of one wife. 1 Timothy 3.
Let every one of you in particular, so love his wife even as himself, and let the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5.
2. A woman of low employment; as strawberry wives. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a married woman; a man's partner in marriage [syn: wife, married woman] [ant: hubby, husband, married man]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural wives) Etymology: Middle English wif, from Old English w?f; akin to Old High German w?b wife and probably to Tocharian B kw?pe female pudenda Date: before 12th century 1. a. dialect woman b. a woman acting in a specified capacity — used in combination <fishwife> 2. a female partner in a marriage • wifehood noun • wifeless adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. wives) 1 a married woman esp. in relation to her husband. 2 archaic a woman, esp. an old or uneducated one. 3 (in comb.) a woman engaged in a specified activity (fishwife; housewife; midwife). Phrases and idioms: have (or take) to wife archaic marry (a woman). wife-swapping colloq. exchanging wives for sexual relations. Derivatives: wifehood n. wifeless adj. wifelike adj. wifely adj. wifeliness n. wifish adj. Etymology: OE wif woman: ult. orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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, [`` Germania'' 8]: Inesse quin etiam sanctum aliquid et providum putant, nec aut consilia earum aspernantur aut responsa neglegunt. Cf. Hussy a jade, Woman.] 1. A woman; an adult female; -- now used in literature only in certain compounds and phrases, as alewife, fishwife, goodwife, and the like. `` Both men and wives.'' --Piers Plowman. On the green he saw sitting a wife. --Chaucer. 2. The lawful consort of a man; a woman who is united to a man in wedlock; a woman who has a husband; a married woman; -- correlative of husband. `` The husband of one wife.'' --1 Tin. iii. 2. Let every one you . . . so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband. --Eph. v. 33. To give to wife, To take to wife, to give or take (a woman) in marriage. Wife's equity (Law), the equitable right or claim of a married woman to a reasonable and adequate provision, by way of settlement or otherwise, out of her choses in action, or out of any property of hers which is under the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery, for the support of herself and her children. --Burrill.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(wives) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. A man's wife is the woman he is married to. He married his wife Jane 37 years ago... The woman was the wife of a film director. N-COUNT: usu with poss see also old wives' tale

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The ordinance of marriage was sanctioned in Paradise (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6). Monogamy was the original law under which man lived, but polygamy early commenced (Gen. 4:19), and continued to prevail all down through Jewish history. The law of Moses regulated but did not prohibit polygamy. A man might have a plurality of wives, but a wife could have only one husband. A wife's legal rights (Ex. 21:10) and her duties (Prov. 31:10-31; 1 Tim. 5:14) are specified. She could be divorced in special cases (Deut. 22:13-21), but could not divorce her husband. Divorce was restricted by our Lord to the single case of adultery (Matt. 19:3-9). The duties of husbands and wives in their relations to each other are distinctly set forth in the New Testament (1 Cor. 7:2-5; Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 3:18, 19; 1 Pet. 3:1-7).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

wif.

See MARRIAGE; RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Married woman, matron, helpmate, consort, spouse, mate, partner, better half, wife of one's bosom, gray mare.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A fetter fixed to one leg.

Moby Thesaurus

better half, bride, common-law wife, concubine, consort, dowager, feme, feme covert, goodwife, goody, helpmate, helpmeet, lady, married woman, mate, matron, old lady, old woman, other half, rib, spouse, squaw, wedded wife, woman