wife

¹ American  

[wahyf] / waɪf /

noun

plural

wives

1. a married woman, especially when considered in relation to her partner in marriage.

2. a woman (archaic or dial., except in idioms).

   old wives' tale.

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verb (used with or without object)

wifed, wifing

1. Rare. wive.

idioms

1. take to wife, to marry (a particular woman).

   He took an heiress to wife.

-wife ² American  

1. a combining form of wife, now unproductive, occurring in compound words that in general designate traditional roles or occupations of women.

   fishwife; goodwife; housewife; midwife.

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wife British  

/ waɪf /

noun

1. a man's partner in marriage; a married woman

2. an archaic or dialect word for woman

3. to marry (a woman)

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wife More Idioms  

1. see under wives.

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Usage

What is a basic definition of wife? A wife is a married woman.The word wife is often used when a woman’s marital status is important to the current topic. For example, a man might explain to a salesperson that he is  looking for a present for his wife, which is a lot more helpful than saying he is buying a gift for “a woman.”The plural of wife is wives. A man who is married is called a husband. A woman whose marital partner has died is called a widow.

• Real-life examples: Queen Isabella I of Castille was the wife of King Ferdinand II of Aragon. King Henry VIII infamously had six wives (but one at a time!). If you are married to a woman, then she is your wife.
• Used in a sentence: My uncle has never been married and says he has no interest in finding a wife.  

Sometimes, a modifier is used with wife to be more specific about a woman’s marital partner.

• Used in a sentence: The documentary explored the lives of prison wives.

Some married people prefer gender-neutral terms, such as spouse or partner. The choice is up to the people in the marriage.

What does -wife mean? The combining form -wife is used like a suffix to mean “wife" or, more generally, "woman." It’s used in a variety of terms, especially in reference to professions, but it’s relatively uncommon except for in a few words.The form -wife comes from Old English wīf, meaning “woman.” Wīf was eventually combined with mann, which was then a gender-neutral term for an adult person, to create wīfmann, the source of the modern word woman. Want to know more? Check out our Words That Use entry for -woman.What are variants of -wife?Just as the word wives is used as a plural form of the word wife, the ending -wives is often used as a plural form of -wife, as in midwives.

Other Word Forms

• wifedom noun
• wifehood noun
• wifeless adjective
• wifelessness noun
• wifelike adjective
• wifeliness noun
• wifely adjective

Etymology

Origin of wife

before 900; Middle English, Old English wīf woman; cognate with Dutch wijf, German Weib, Old Norse vīf

Example Sentences

“Home music-making was at the core of Victorian domesticity, and a woman—wife, mother, daughter—considered the ‘angel in the home,’ would have been sitting at the genteel parlor piano playing this tune,” says Fink.

From The Wall Street Journal

The committee also summoned both former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to testify.

From BBC

The "Outlander effect" is set to continue as the show branches into a prequel story about the parents of the original hero Jamie, and his wife Claire, played by Caitriona Balfe.

From BBC

Originally from a poor and mountainous district of Bamiyan, Rahesh worked for five years in construction in Iran, where his wife Marzia was a seamstress.

From Barron's

Disillusioned with Hollywood, Wilson moved his wife and children to what he jokingly called a “respectable, Republican, upper-middle-class” neighborhood in Mission Viejo.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bride
• companion
• partner
• roommate
• spouse