wittol

American  

[wit-l] / ˈwɪt l /

noun

Archaic.

1. a man who knows of and tolerates his wife's infidelity.

---

wittol British  

/ ˈwɪtəl /

noun

1. obsolete a man who tolerates his wife's unfaithfulness

---

Etymology

Origin of wittol

1400–50; late Middle English wetewold, equivalent to wete wit ² + ( coke ) wold cuckold

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wittol

Again, there is no historical proof that Captain O'Shea was the wittol and Gladstonian stool pigeon Playwright Schauffler shows.

From Time Magazine Archive

Russian Ambassador to England after the Napoleonic wars, Lieven was an upright, punctilious, short-sighted wittol whose portrait makes him look like an aristocratic Andy Gump.

From Time Magazine Archive

A wittol, a barber, and a bald-headed man travelled together.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 529, January 14, 1832 by Various

There are cases in which we may pretend to sleep; but the wittol rule has some sense in it, Non omnibus dormio.

From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 05 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

Sot is an old word that signifies a dunce, dullard, jolthead, gull, wittol, or noddy, one without guts in his brains, whose cockloft is unfurnished, and, in short, a fool.

From Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 5 by Peter Anthony Motteux

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---