archwife

English

Etymology

From Middle English archewyf, arche wif, equivalent to arch- +‎ wife.

Noun

archwife (plural archwives)

1. A big, masculine wife; a dominating woman; virago.
   • 1977, Geoffrey Chaucer, Theodore Morrison, The Portable Chaucer: Revised Edition:

     You archwives, strong as camels, take the high
     And overpowering hand against the male.

   • 2002, Pauline Croft, King James:

     Lady Wallingford had been circulating defamatory libels against Buckingham, leading James to comment that Wallingford was like his father-in-law, 'altogether guided and overruled by an archwife'.

   • 2003, Stephanie Forward, Dreams, Visions and Realities, page 3:

     "To pay homage to the World Harlot, the Mandrake Venus, the Archwife, the Ever-existing, who has been, is, and will be. […] "

   • 2008, Georgette Heyer, False Colours, page 191:

     All the same, Master Kit, it looks like you're in a case of pickles – if her ma's half the archwife the postboy says she is! Seems to me you'll have to hang up your axe.'

   • 2013, Barbara Metzger, Greetings of the Season and Other Stories:

     Some poor fool might have been saved a lifetime of misery if the archwife had drowned in the ditch after all.

Anagrams

• war chief, warchief