wifely
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English wifly, wifli, from Old English wīflīc (“womanly, wifely”), from Proto-Germanic *wībalīkaz (“wifely”), equivalent to wife + -ly. Cognate with Scots wyfelie (“womanly, wifely”), Dutch wijflijk, wijfelijk, German weiblich (“feminine, female”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
wifely (comparative wifelier, superlative wifeliest)
- Of, befitting, pertaining to, or characteristic of a wife.
- 1869, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, Part 2, Chapter 38,[1]
- Being a domestic man, John decidedly missed the wifely attentions he had been accustomed to receive, but as he adored his babies, he cheerfully relinquished his comfort for a time, supposing with masculine ignorance that peace would soon be restored.
- 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, “Unmarried,”[2]
- A woman who does not nose into the domestic arrangements of the place she is going to occupy gives the first hint, for a woman indifferent to the heating, furnishing, plumbing, cooking utensils of her home is not wifely.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
- I endeavoured to soothe. “You can't blame yourself.” “Yes, I can.” “It isn't your fault.” “I invited Wilbert Cream here.” “Merely from a wifely desire to do [your husband] a bit of good.”
- 1869, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, Part 2, Chapter 38,[1]
Synonyms
Derived terms
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms suffixed with -ly
- English 2-syllable words
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