wives

[wahyvz]

See more synonyms for wives on Thesaurus.com

noun

plural of wife.

wife

[wahyf]

noun, plural wives

[wahyvz] /waɪvz/.

a married woman, especially when considered in relation to her partner in marriage.
a woman (archaic or dial., except in idioms): old wives' tale.

verb (used with or without object), wifed, wif·ing.

Rare. wive.

Idioms

take to wife, to marry (a particular woman): He took an heiress to wife.

Origin of wife

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

Related formswife·dom, nounwife·less, adjectivewife·less·ness, noun

wive

[wahyv]

verb (used without object), wived, wiv·ing.

to take a wife; marry.

verb (used with object), wived, wiv·ing.

to take as wife; marry.
to provide with a wife.

Origin of wive

before 900; Middle English wiven, Old English wīfian, derivative of wīf; see wife

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for wives

partner, bride, roommate, spouse, companion, helpmate, mate, consort, monogamist

Examples from the Web for wives

Contemporary Examples of wives

How many husbands, wives, sons, and daughters have we lost to a broken system?
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen
Parker Molloy
January 1, 2015
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 Five
Nina 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 Five
Nina 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.
I Was Gang Raped at a UVA Frat 30 Years Ago, and No One Did Anything
Liz Seccuro
December 16, 2014
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 Winning
Bill Schulz
October 19, 2014

Historical Examples of wives

Then they will cease, and wives and mothers will come here to weep.
Ballads of a Bohemian
Robert W. Service
All foreigners break their wives' hearts—Nelly's a sensible girl!
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
Their wives and their womenkind generally, have no position but that of animals.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Sir Winston S. Churchill
He lived in the edge of a forest; his people were many; he had forty wives, and the like.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
If this sort of thing was continued, no man's wives would be safe.
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 2, April 9, 1870
Various

British Dictionary definitions for wives

wives

noun

the plural of wife

wive

verb archaic

to marry (a woman)
(tr) to supply with a wife

Word Origin for wive

Old English gewīfian, from wīf wife

wife

noun plural wives (waɪvz)

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)

Derived Formswifehood, nounwifeless, adjectivewifelike, adjectivewifeliness, nounwifely, adjective

Word Origin for wife

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wives

wive

"to marry (a woman)," Old English wifian, from wif "woman" (see wife). Cf. Middle Dutch wiven.

wife

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.