feme sole

American  

[sohl] / soʊl /

noun

Law.

PLURAL

femes sole

1. an unmarried woman, whether never married, widowed, or divorced.

2. a married woman who is independent of her husband with respect to property.

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feme sole British  

noun

1. a single woman, whether spinster, widow, or divorcee

2. a woman whose marriage has been annulled or is otherwise independent of her husband, as by owning her own property

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Etymology

Origin of feme sole

Borrowed into English from Anglo-French around 1520–30

Example Sentences

The ordinary disabilities are those of infants and married women—now in England greatly mitigated as regards the latter by the Married Women’s Property Acts, 1870 to 1893, which enable a married woman to contract, as a feme sole, to the extent of her separate property.

From Project Gutenberg

The wife of a drunkard or profligate man by petitioning the Court of Common Pleas, setting forth these facts and his desertion of her and neglect to provide for her and their children, may be entitled to the custody of her children, and, as a "feme sole trader," empowered to transact business and acquire a separate property, which shall be subject to her own disposal during life, and liable for the maintenance and education of her children.

From Project Gutenberg

She may become a stockholder of any bank, insurance company or any incorporated association, as if she were a feme sole, and may vote by proxy or otherwise.

From Project Gutenberg

The legislature of 1873 also passed an act regulating the liquor traffic, in which it is formally provided that a wife shall have the same right to sue, to control the suit, and to control the sum recovered by the suit, as a feme sole.

From Project Gutenberg

While the right of suffrage is still denied, gains in personal and property rights have been granted: In 1880, the law requiring the private acknowledgment by a married woman of her execution of deeds, or other written instruments, without the "fear or compulsion" of her husband, was abolished, leaving the wife to make, take and certify in the same manner as if she were a feme sole.

From Project Gutenberg