wife

¹

[wahyf]

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.

verb (used with or without object)

wifed, wifing 

1. Rare.,  wive.

-wife

²

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.

wife

/ 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)

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of wife¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of wife¹

Old English wīf; related to Old Norse vīf (perhaps from vīfathr veiled), Old High German wīb (German Weib )

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

   He took an heiress to wife.

see under wives.

Example Sentences

In his autobiography, Heartbeats: A Memoir, co-written with his wife Patricia, the notoriously private Borg speaks about his post-playing career struggles.

From BBC

An Orange County Superior Court judge who was convicted of shooting his wife to death during an argument is set to be sentenced today, according to prosecutors.

From Los Angeles Times

Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, was convicted in April of fatally shooting his 65-year-old wife, Sheryl, during a drunken argument over money at their Anaheim Hills home on Aug. 3, 2023.

From Los Angeles Times

Jeffrey Ferguson’s first trial in his wife’s fatal shooting ended with the jury deadlocked after eight days of deliberations.

From Los Angeles Times

Prosecutors say Ferguson and his wife were in their family room watching “Breaking Bad” when they began to quarrel.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bride 
• companion 
• partner 
• roommate 
• spouse 

When To Use

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.

When To Use

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.