wife
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English wif, wiif, wyf, from Old English wīf (“woman, female, lady, wife”), from Proto-Germanic *wībą (“woman, wife”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰʷí₂bʰ- (“shame, pudenda”) (compare Tocharian A/B kip/kwīpe (“shame, genitals, female pudenda”)).[1][2] Cognate with Scots wife (“wife”), West Frisian wiif (“wife, woman”), North Frisian wüf (“wife, woman”), Dutch wijf (“woman, female”), Low German Wief (“woman, female”), German Weib (“woman, wife, female”), Danish viv (“woman”), Swedish viv (“woman”), Faroese vív (“wife, woman”), Icelandic víf (“woman”).
Noun [edit]
- A married woman, especially in relation to her spouse.
- The female of a pair of mated animals.
- A new wife for the gander is introduced into the pen.
Synonyms [edit]
- partner (may or may not be married) (also applies to husband)
- spouse (also applies to husband)
- significant other (also applies to husband)
- life-long partner (also applies to husband)
- better half
- little woman (slang)
- See also Wikisaurus:wife
Antonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from the noun "wife"
|
Look at pages starting with wife.
Translations [edit]
married woman
|
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
|
References [edit]
- The New Geordie Dictionary, Frank Graham, 1987, ISBN 0946928118
- ^ Douglas Q. Adams, A Dictionary of Tocharian B (Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopoi, 1999), page 238
- ^ Klaus Totila Schmit and Klaus Strunk, “Toch. B kwī̆pe ‘Schaum, Schande’, A kip ‘Schaum’ und germ. *wīƀa ‘Weib’”, Indogermanica Europaea: Festschrift für Wolfgang Meid (Graz: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Graz, 1989), pages 251-284
Statistics [edit]
Scots [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old English wīf "woman".
Noun [edit]
wife (plural wifes)
- wife.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Translations to be checked (Western Mashan Hmong)
- Geordie English
- en:Family
- en:Female
- Scots terms derived from Old English
- Scots nouns
![T22 [sn] sn](http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.22wmf4/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_T22.png)
![N35 [n] n](http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.22wmf4/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_N35.png)
![X1 [t] t](http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.22wmf4/extensions/wikihiero/img/hiero_X1.png)
