wives
- plural of wife.
wife
- a married woman, especially when considered in relation to her partner in marriage.
- a woman (archaic or dial., except in idioms): old wives' tale.
- Rare. wive.
- take to wife, to marry (a particular woman): He took an heiress to wife.
Origin of wife
wive
- to take a wife; marry.
- to take as wife; marry.
- to provide with a wife.
Origin of wive
Examples from the Web for wives
Contemporary Examples
How many husbands, wives, sons, and daughters have we lost to a broken system?
It was doubtless a warm reunion with his family, who are featured in The Cuban Wives.
Of Cuban Spies, a Baby, and a Filmmaker: The Strange Tale of the Cuban FiveNina Strochlic
December 28, 2014
The wives have been traveling for years across the globe to bring attention to the case.
Of Cuban Spies, a Baby, and a Filmmaker: The Strange Tale of the Cuban FiveNina Strochlic
December 28, 2014
These are men who now have wives and children, and their silence so many years later shows how morally bankrupt they remain.
So, everyone else is there with girlfriends and wives… And I brought my mom.
The Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah Sounds Off on Weed, the Weather, and WinningBill Schulz
October 19, 2014
Historical Examples
Then they will cease, and wives and mothers will come here to weep.
Ballads of a BohemianRobert W. Service
All foreigners break their wives' hearts—Nelly's a sensible girl!
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
Their wives and their womenkind generally, have no position but that of animals.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
He lived in the edge of a forest; his people were many; he had forty wives, and the like.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
If this sort of thing was continued, no man's wives would be safe.
wives
- the plural of wife
wive
- to marry (a woman)
- (tr) to supply with a wife
Word Origin
wife
- a man's partner in marriage; a married womanRelated adjective: uxorial
- an archaic or dialect word for woman
- take to wife to marry (a woman)
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for wives
wive
v.
"to marry (a woman)," Old English wifian, from wif "woman" (see wife). Cf. Middle Dutch wiven.
wife
n.
Old English wif "woman," from Proto-Germanic *wiban (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian wif, Old Norse vif, Danish and Swedish viv, Middle Dutch, Dutch wijf, Old High German wib, German Weib), of uncertain origin. Dutch wijf now means, in slang, "girl, babe," having softened somewhat from earlier sense of "bitch."
Some proposed PIE roots include *weip- "to twist, turn, wrap," perhaps with sense of "veiled person" (see vibrate); or *ghwibh-, a proposed root meaning "shame," also "pudenda," but the only examples of it are wife and Tocharian (a lost IE language of central Asia) kwipe, kip "female pudenda."
The modern sense of "female spouse" began as a specialized sense in Old English; the general sense of "woman" is preserved in midwife, old wives' tale, etc. Middle English sense of "mistress of a household" survives in housewife; and later restricted sense of "tradeswoman of humble rank" in fishwife. Wife-swapping is attested from 1954.
Idioms and Phrases with wives
wives
see old wives' tale.
wife
see under wives.