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Definition: Wife |
WifeNoun1. A married woman; a man's partner in marriage. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "wife" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Bible | Wife The ordinance of marriage was sanctioned in Paradise (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6). Monogamy was the original law under which man lived, but polygamy early commenced (Gen. 4:19), and continued to prevail all down through Jewish history. The law of Moses regulated but did not prohibit polygamy. A man might have a plurality of wives, but a wife could have only one husband. A wife's legal rights (Ex. 21:10) and her duties (Prov. 31:10-31; 1 Tim. 5:14) are specified. She could be divorced in special cases (Deut. 22:13-21), but could not divorce her husband. Divorce was restricted by our Lord to the single case of adultery (Matt. 19:3-9). The duties of husbands and wives in their relations to each other are distinctly set forth in the New Testament (1 Cor. 7:2-5; Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 3:18, 19; 1 Pet. 3:1-7). Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of your wife, denotes unsettled affairs and discord in the home. To dream that your wife is unusually affable, denotes that you will receive profit from some important venture in trade. For a wife to dream her husband whips her, foretells unlucky influences will cause harsh criticism in the home and a general turmoil will ensue. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Literature | Wife is from the verb to weave. (Saxon wefan, Danish vaevc, German weben, whence weib, a woman, one who works at the distaff.) Woman is called the distaff. Hence Dryden calls Anne "a distaff on the throne." While a girl was spinning her wedding clothes she was simply a spinster; but when this task was done, and she was married, she became a wife, or one who had already woven her allotted task. Alfred, in his will, speaks of his male and female descendants as those of the spear-side and those of the spindle-side, a distinction still observed by the Germans; and hence the effigies on graves of spears and spindles. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Slang in 1811 | WIFE. A fetter fixed to one leg. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Caroline of Brunswick (May 17, 1768 - August 7, 1821), Princess of Wales April 8, 1795 - January 29, 1820 and, technically, queen consort of King George IV of the United Kingdom January 29, 1820 - August 7, 1821.Caroline was born on May 17, 1768 at Brunswick in Germany, daughter of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by Princess Augusta of the United Kingdom, eldest sister of King George III. She became engaged to the king's eldest son, her first cousin, who saw marriage as an opportunity to increase his financial allowance, whilst having no intention of giving up his playboy lifestyle. Caroline and Prince George, who held the title of Prince of Wales, were married on April 8, 1795, at St James's Palace in London.
The marriage was a disaster even before it had taken place. Caroline was not attractive, but her main shortcomings in the eyes of her new husband were her lack of personal hygiene and the fact that she was apparently not a virgin. For her part, she found him fat, ugly and rude. Recently-discovered correspondence of the prince's reveals that the couple only had sexual intercourse three times in the whole of their married life. The consequence of one of these meetings was Princess Charlotte Augusta, George's only legitimate child, who was born on January 7, 1796. The Prince and Princess of Wales never lived together afterwards, and appeared separately in public.
Caroline was prevented from seeing her daughter on a day-to-day basis, and was eventually banished to a private residence in Blackheath, where she adopted a licentious lifestyle. Those with whom she is alleged to have had affairs included the politician, George Canning, and the admiral, Sir Sidney Smith. This gave her husband ample opportunity to discredit her. Following an investigation into her personal affairs, she left the country and went to live abroad, building up large debts throughout Europe, cavorting with an assortment of lovers, and adopting rouge heavy enough, skirts short enough, necklines deep enough, and wigs frankly fake enough that England's queen consort became the talk of the Continent, a virtual walking comedy. During this period, the couple's daughter, Princess Charlotte, wife of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, died after giving birth to her only child, a stillborn son.
Her estranged husband's accession to the throne in 1820 caused Caroline to return to Britain in 1820, but he, liberated from the strict authority of his late father, was beginning divorce proceedings against her. As a result, she was turned away from his coronation. A social outcast, dejected, and suffering from various ailments, though still legally queen, she died on August 7, 1821. Her body was returned to her native Brunswick for burial.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Caroline of Brunswick."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Eleanor of Aquitaine (about 1122 - April 1, 1204) was one of the most powerful people of the Middle Ages and the richest and most powerful woman in Europe during her lifetime. She was married first to the French King Louis VII and then to the English King Henry II, a marriage that produced the two English kings Richard the Lionheart and John. Her father was William X, Duke of Aquitaine, and her mother was Aenor Aimery. When Eleanor was born she was named after her mother and called "Alia Aenor", which in their language meant "other Aenor", but it became "Eleanor" in English.
The eldest of their three children, she became heiress to the province of Aquitaine, largest and richest of the provinces that would become modern France, when her only brother died as a baby. As soon as her father died in 1137, when she was 15 years old, Eleanor became the target of marriage proposals from all parts of Europe: She married King Louis VII of France, bringing to the marriage her vast possessions from the river Loire to the Pyrenees, most of what is now the west of France. She also gave him a wedding present that is still in existence, a rock crystal vase. She took part in the Crusades with some female contemporaries but as the feudal leader of the soldiers from her duchy. The story that she and those other ladies dressed as Amazons is no longer credited by serious historians, but her conduct was repeatedly criticized by Church elders as indecorous. Eitherway it remains to be debated. While in the eastern Mediterranean countries, she learned about maritime conventions developing there that were the beginnings of what would become the field of admiralty law, and she later introduced those conventions in her own lands, on the island of Oleron in 1160, and then into England, while she was acting as regent for her son, King Richard.
Even before the Crusade, Eleanor and Louis were becoming estranged. She sided with her flamboyant, handsome uncle, Raymond of Toulouse, in his desire to re-capture the County of Edessa. Louis preferred an assault on Jerusalem. When Eleanor declared her intention to go with Raymond to Edessa, Louis had her brought with him by force. When they passed through Rome on the way home, the Pope himself tried to reconcile them, and Eleanor did conceive their second daughter (Alix (or Alice) Capet, the first being Marie de Champagne), but there was no saving their marriage. In 1152 the marriage to Louis was annulled on the grounds of consanguinity. Her vast estates reverted to her and were considered no longer a portion of the French royal properties.
Within a year, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Anjou, who was shortly to become king of England. She was eleven years older than he and related in the same degree as she had been to Louis. She bore Henry five sons and three daughters -- (William, Henry the Young King, Richard I "the Lionheart, Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany, John "Lackland, Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan) -- over the next thirteen years. Some time between 1168 and 1173, Eleanor instigated a separation, deciding that from then on she would mostly remain in her own territory of Poitou, while Henry concentrated on controlling his increasingly large empire elsewhere.
In 1173, Eleanor led a rebellion against Henry, in league with their three surviving sons, although his bastard sons stood by him. She may have grown weary of Henry's numerous sexual dalliances, and she was certainly fed up with his attempts to control her patrimony of Aquitaine and Poitiers. The rebellion was put down, and Eleanor was imprisoned at the age of 50 for the next fifteen years.
Upon Henry's death in 1189, her son Richard inherited the throne and released his mother from prison. She ruled England while Richard went off to Crusade. She survived him and lived long enough to see her youngest son John on the throne.
Eleanor died in 1204 and was entombed in Fontevraud Abbey near her husband Henry and her son Richard. Her tomb effigy shows her reading a Bible.
Eleanor and Henry are the main characters in the play, The Lion in Winter, by James Goldman, which was made into a film starring Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn. The depiction of her in the film Becket is totally inaccurate.
Biographies
- Queen Eleanor: Independent Spirit of the Medieval World, Polly Schover Brooks (©1983) (for young readers)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Biography, Marion Meade (©1977)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings, Amy Kelly (©1950)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Mother Queen, Desmond Seward (©1978)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life, Alison Weir (©1999)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Eleanor of Aquitaine."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
"First Lady of the United States" is the unofficial title of the hostess of the White House. The position is traditionally filled by the wife of the President of the United States, and the title is sometimes taken to apply only to the wife of a sitting president. The current First Lady is Laura Welch Bush. Some of the more notable former First Ladies include Martha Washington, Dolley Madison, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Hillary Clinton.Several women, other than wives of presidents, have been recognized as being a "First Lady". This situation has arisen due to the President being a bachelor or widower, when the position was then filled by a female relative or friend of the President. Less commonly, the First Lady has delegated her duties to another woman when she is unable or unwilling to fulfill them herself.
The title was used as early as 1849 when Dolley Madison was eulogized as "America's First Lady", but did not gain wider recognition until 1877 when newspaper journalist Mary Clemmer Ames used it while reporting on the inauguration of Rutherford B. Hayes.
The First Lady is not an elected position, carries no official duties, and brings no salary. Nonetheless, she attends many official ceremonies and functions of state either along with or in place of the President. Furthermore, many have taken an active role in campaigning for the President they are associated with. Hillary Rodham Clinton took the role one step further when she was, for a time, given a formal job in the Clinton administration to develop reforms to the health care system.
If the United States were to have a female President, it is not clear who would take the position of First Lady. A female president could act as her own First Lady, select a female relative or friend to occupy the role, or have her husband act as an analogous "First Gentleman".
The wife of the president is referred to by her married name--the couple is formally referred to as, for example, "The President and Mrs. Washington."
The term is also used to describe the wife of other government officials, or for a woman who has acted as a leading symbol for some activity (as in "First Lady of California" or "First Lady of Jazz" respectively).
The wife of the Vice President of the United States has been referred to as the Second Lady of the United States.
First Ladies of the United States
The following women have been recognized by The National First Ladies' Library as "First Lady".
The following women are known to have acted as hostess on behalf of the First Lady when she was otherwise unable or unwilling.
- Martha Dandridge Custis Washington - wife of George Washington
- Abigail Smith Adams - wife of John Adams
- Martha Jefferson Randolph - daughter of widower Thomas Jefferson
- Dolley Payne Todd Madison - friend of widower Thomas Jefferson
- Dolley Payne Todd Madison - wife of James Madison
- Elizabeth Kortwright Monroe - wife of James Monroe
- Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams - wife of John Quincy Adams
- Emily Tennessee Donelson - niece of widower Andrew Jackson
- Sarah Yorke Jackson - daughter-in-law of widower Andrew Jackson
- Angelica Singleton Van Buren - daughter-in-law of widower Martin Van Buren
- Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison - absent wife of short-termed William Henry Harrison
- Jane Irwin Harrison - daughter-in-law of short-termed William Henry Harrison
- Letitia Christian Tyler - wife of John Tyler
- Priscilla Cooper Tyler - daughter-in-law of widower John Tyler
- Julia Gardiner Tyler - second wife of John Tyler
- Sarah Childress Polk - wife of James Knox Polk
- Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor - wife of Zachary Taylor
- Abigail Powers Fillmore - wife of Millard Fillmore
- Jane Means Appleton Pierce - wife of Franklin Pierce
- Harriet Rebecca Lane - niece of bachelor James Buchanan
- Mary Todd Lincoln - wife of Abraham Lincoln
- Eliza McCardle Johnson - wife of Andrew Johnson
- Julia Dent Grant - wife of Ulysses S. Grant
- Lucy Ware Webb Hayes - wife of Rutherford B. Hayes
- Lucretia Rudolph Garfield - wife of James A. Garfield
- Mary Arthur McElroy - sister of widower Chester Alan Arthur
- Rose Elizabeth Cleveland - sister of bachelor Grover Cleveland
- Frances Folsom Cleveland - wife of Grover Cleveland
- Caroline Levina Scott Harrison - wife of Benjamin Harrison
- Mary Harrison McKee - daughter of widower Benjamin Harrison
- Frances Folsom Cleveland - wife of Grover Cleveland
- Ida Saxton McKinley - wife of William McKinley
- Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt - second wife of Theodore Roosevelt
- Helen Herron Taft - wife of William Howard Taft
- Ellen Louise Axson Wilson - wife of Woodrow Wilson
- Edith Bolling Galt Wilson - second wife of Woodrow Wilson
- Florence Kling Harding - wife of Warren G. Harding
- Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge - wife of Calvin Coolidge
- Lou Henry Hoover - wife of Herbert Hoover
- Anna Eleanor Roosevelt - wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman - wife of Harry S. Truman
- Mary "Mamie" Geneva Doud Eisenhower - wife of Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy - wife of John F. Kennedy
- Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson - wife of Lyndon B. Johnson
- Thelma "Patricia" Ryan Nixon - wife of Richard Milhous Nixon
- Elizabeth Bloomer "Betty" Ford - wife of Gerald R. Ford
- Rosalynn Smith Carter - wife of Jimmy Carter
- Nancy Davis Reagan - wife of Ronald Reagan
- Barbara Pierce Bush - wife of George H. W. Bush
- Hillary Rodham Clinton - wife of Bill Clinton
- Laura Welch Bush - wife of George W. Bush
- Maria Jefferson Eppes - daughter of widower Thomas Jefferson
- Eliza Monroe Hay - daughter of James Monroe
- Letitia Tyler Semple - daughter of widower John Tyler
- Mary Elizabeth Taylor Bliss - daughter of Zachary Taylor
- Mary Abigail Fillmore - daughter of Millard Fillmore
- Martha Johnson Patterson - daughter of Andrew Johnson
- Helen Taft Manning - daughter of William Howard Taft
- Margaret Woodrow Wilson - daughter of widower Woodrow Wilson
- Helen Woodrow Bones - cousin of widower Woodrow Wilson
- Chelsea Victoria Clinton - daughter of William J. Clinton
External Links
- First Ladies article at Grolier's The American Presidency
- First Ladies' Gallery at The White House
- The National First Ladies' Library
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "First Lady of the United States."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Marriage is a socially sanctioned union, typically of one man and one woman, in this connection called husband and wife. Typically they form a family, socially, through forming a household, which is often subsequently extended biologically, through children. It is found in all societies, but in widely varying forms. There are many variants on this basic form, many of which are discussed below: see same-sex marriage and polygamy for two controversial variants.
Recognition
Marriage is generally recognized by religion and/or the state. State-sanctioned legal marriage is often known as civil marriage. In many jurisdictions the civil marriage ceremony may take place during the a religious marriage ceremony, by they are two distinct entities. In most American states the marriage may be officiated by an minister, priest or religious authority and in such a case the religious authority acts simultaneously as a religious authority and an agent of the state. In some countries such as France and Russia it is necessary to get married by the state before having a religious ceremony. Some states allow civil marriages which are not allowed by many religions, such as same-sex marriages or civil unions and marriage may also be created by the operation of the law alone as in common-law marriage which is a judicial recognition that two people living as domestic partners are entitled to the effects of marriage. Conversely, there are examples of people who have a religious ceremony which is not recognized civilly. Examples include widows who stand to lose a pension if they remarry and so undergo a marriage in the eyes of god, gay or lesbian couples, some breakaway sects of Mormonism which recognize polygamy, Islamic men who wish to engage in polygamy that is condoned in their particular sect of Islam and immigrants who are preparing to travel to more developed countries but who do not wish to alert to the immigration authorities that they are married either to a spouse they are leaving behind or because of the complexity of immigration laws that may make it difficult for their spouse to visit them on a tourist visa.
Types of marriage
The type and functions of marriage vary from culture to culture. In the United States, Europe, and China in the early 21st century, legally sanctioned marriages are monogamous and divorce is relatively simple and socially sanctioned. Legally sanctioned marriages are generally conducted between heterosexual couples, although there is a controversial movement to sanction same-sex marriage. The prevailing view toward marriage is that it be based on emotional attachment between the partners and entered into voluntarily.In the Islamic world, marriage is sanctioned between a man and up to four women. In Imperial China, formal marriage was sanctioned only between a man and a woman, although a man could take several concubines and the children from the union were considered legitimate.
In most societies, marriage was polygynic, where a man could have multiple wives, but even there, the vast majority of men had only one. In such societies, multiple wives is generally considered a sign of wealth and power. The status of multiple wives varied from one society to another. In Islamic societies, the different wives were considered equal while in Imperial China, one woman was considered the primary wife while the other women were considered concubines. Among the upper classes, the primary wife was an arranged marriage with an elaborate formal ceremony while the concubines were taken on later with minimal ceremony.
There were also many societies that were monogamous, where a person could be married to only one person at once, and very few polyandrous, where a woman could have multiple husbands. Societies which permit group marriage are extremely rare, but have existed in utopian societies such as the Oneida Community.
Because of recent expansion of monogamous Europeans, monogamy is much more popular than it was ever before. However, in 21st century Western cultures, while bigamy and sexual relations outside marriage is generally socially or legally frowned-upon, divorce and remarriage has been relatively easy to undertake. This has lead to a practice which some have called serial polygamy. In particular, some have argued that the pattern of the rich divorcing their first wives and then taking on a trophy wife is similar to patterns of polygamy in other societies.
Rights and obligations
Typically, it is the institution through which people join together their lives in emotional and economic ways through forming a household. It often confers rights and obligations with respect to raising children, holding property, sexual behaviour, kinship ties, tribal membership, relationship to society, inheritance, emotional intimacy, and love.Marriage sometimes: establishes the legal father of a woman's child; establishes the legal mother of a man's child; gives the husband or his family control over the wife's sexual services, labor, and/or property; gives the wife or her family control over the husband's sexual services, labor, and/or property; establishes a joint fund of property for the benefit of children; establishes a relationship between the families of the husband and wife. No society does all of these; no one of these is universal (see Edmund Leach's article in "Marriage, Family, and Residence," edited by Paul Bohannan and John Middleton).
Marriage has traditionally been a prerequisite for starting a family, which usually serves as the building block of a community and society. Thus, marriage not only serves the interests of the two individuals, but also the interests of their children and the society of which they are a part.
Marriage restrictions
Societies have always placed restrictions on marriage to relatives, though the degree of prohibited blood relationship varies widely. In almost all societies marriage between brothers and sisters is forbidden, with Egyptian royalty being the rare exception. In many societies marriage between some first-cousins is preferred, while at the other extreme, the mediaeval Catholic church prohibited marriage between distant cousins. Many societies have also adopted other restrictions on who one can marry, such as prohibitions on marrying persons with the same surname, or persons with the same sacred animal.Within Chinese societies, marriage with persons of the same surname is generally considered taboo, and many Chinese areas will have local taboos against marriages between people with certain surnames which are considered closely related. The sanctions against this action are informal social ones rather than formal legal ones, however.
Anthropologists refer to these sort of restrictions as exogamy. One exception to this pattern is in ancient Egypt, where marriage between brothers and sisters was permitted in the royal family; this privilege was denied commoners and may have served to concentrate wealth and power in one family (See also incest). The consequence of the incest-taboo is exogamy, the requirement to marry someone from another group. Anthropologists have thus pointed out that the incest-taboo may serve to promote social solidarity.
Societies have also at times required marriage from within a certain group. Anthropologists refer to these restrictions as endogamy. An example of such a restrictions would be a requirement to marry someone from the same tribe. Racist laws adopted by some societies in the past to prohibit marriage of peoples of different races, or miscegenation, could also be considered examples of endogamy.
Termination
Many societies provide for the termination of marriage through divorce. Marriages can also be annulled, which is a legal proceeding that establishes that a marriage was never valid from the beginning.
Weddings
The ceremony in which a marriage is enacted and announced to the community is called a wedding. A wedding in which a couple marry in the' eyes of the law' is called a civil marriage. Religions also facilitate weddings, in the 'eyes of God.' In many European and some Latin American countries, where someone chooses a religious ceremony, they must also hold that ceremony separate from the civil ceremony. In some countries, notably the United States, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Spain both ceremonies can be held together; the officiant at the religious and community ceremony also serves as an agent of the state to enact the civil marriage. That does not mean that the state is recognising religious marriages; the 'civil' ceremony takes place as part but separate from, the religious ceremony. Often this simply involves signing a register during the religious ceremony. If for whatever reason, that civil element of the full ceremony is left out, in the eyes of the law no marriage took place, irrespective of the holding of the religious ceremony.The way in which a marriage is enacted has changed over time, as has the institution of marriage itself. In Europe during the Middle Ages, marriage was enacted by the couple promising verbally to each other that they would be married to each other. This promise was known as the verbum. At first, the Catholic Church did not conduct or recognise marriages, but priests did step in to witness the verbum and so be able to help resolve disputes about whether the couple in fact married themselves. At the Council of Trent, the Church declared marriage a sacrament. As part of the Reformation, the role of recording marriages and setting the rules for marriage passed to the state. By the 1600s many of the Protestant European countries had heavy state involvement in marriage.
Marriage and religion
Main article: Religious aspects of marriageMany religions have extensive teachings regarding marriage. Most Christian churches give some form of blessing to a marriage; the wedding ceremony typically includes some sort of pledge by the community to support the couple's relationship. In the Catholic Church, marriage is one of the seven sacraments. In the Eastern Orthodox church, it is one of the Mysteries, and is seen as an ordination and a martyrdom. In marriage, Christians see a picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Church. In Judaism, marriage is so important that remaining unmarried is deemed unnatural. Islam also recommends marriage highly; among other things, it helps in the pursuit of spiritual perfection. Hinduism sees marriage as a sacred duty that entails both religious and social obligations. By contrast, Buddhism does not encourage or discourage marriage, although it does teach how one might live a happily married life.
It is also worth noting that different religions have different beliefs as regards the breakup of marriage. For example, the Roman Catholic Church believes it is morally wrong to divorce, and divorcées cannot remarry in a church marriage, though they can do in the eyes of the law. In the area of nullity, religions and the state often apply different rules, meaning that a couple, for example, could have their marriage annulled by the Catholic Church but still be married in the eyes of the law, because the state disagrees with the church over whether an annulment could be granted in a particular case. This produces the phenomenon of Catholics getting church annulments simultaneously with state divorces, allowing the ex-partners to marry other people in the eyes of both the church and the state.
Marriage and economics
When two people marry they may have the choice between keeping their property separate or combining their property. In the latter case, when the marriage ends by divorce each owns half; if one partner dies the surviving partner owns half and for the other half inheritance rules apply.The respective maintenance obligations, during and eventually after a marriage, are regulated in most jurisdictions; see alimony.
It is possible to analyze the institution of marriage using economic theory; see David Friedman, Price Theory: Chapter 21: The Economics of Love and Marriage.
National variations
USA
In the United States, a marriage is typically a formally declared, officially recognized, and ostensibly permanent relationship existing between a man and a woman. Indeed, 36 states have laws defining marriage as "a union between a man and a woman". On closer examination, "marriage" has four main facets:
- a personal commitment between the people who are married to each other,
- social recognition and acknowledgement of that commitment by the community of the married people (family, friends, and religious community),
- religious treatment of the relationship and rules for how that relationship is entered into (referred to as "religious marriage"),
- a civil status defined by law and recognised by society generally (referred to as "civil marriage")
Criticisms of marriage
Many commentators have argued that marriage has a significant dark side, sometimes condemning individual local practices and sometimes even the entire institution of marriage. A good many of these are feminist critiques, which claim that in many cultures marriage is particularly disadvantageous to women.
In many areas of the world, when a woman was in her early teens her father arranged a marriage for her in return for a brideprice, sometimes to a man twice her age who was a stranger to her. Her older husband then became her guardian and she could be cut off almost completely from her family. The woman had little or no say in the marriage negotiations, which might even have occurred without her knowledge.
Some traditions allowed a woman who failed to bear a male child to be given back to her father. This reflected the importance of bearing children and extending the family to succeeding generations.
Often both parties are expected to be virgins before their marriage, but in many cultures women were more strictly held to this standard. One old tradition in Europe, which survived into the twentieth century in rural Greece, was for this to be proven by hanging the bloody bed sheet from the wedding night from the side of the house. Similarly, sexual fidelity is very often expected in marriage, but sometimes the expectations and penalties for women were harsher than those for men.
In some traditions marriage could be a traumatic, unpleasant turn of events for a girl. "The Lot of Women" written in Athens in the mid 5th century BC laments this situation: "Young women, in my opinion, have the sweetest existence known to mortals in their father's homes, for their innocence always keeps children safe and happy. But when we reach puberty and can understand, we are thrust out and sold away from our ancestral gods and from our parents. Some go to strange men's homes, others to foreigner's, some to joyless houses, some to hostile. And all this once the first night has yoked us to our husband we are forced to praise and say that all is well." On the other hand, marriage has often served to assure the woman of her husband's continued support and enabled her to focus more attention on the raising of her children. This security has typically been greater when and where divorce was more difficult to obtain.
Some older wedding traditions still survive in some form in today's ceremonies. Women may still be symbolically "given away" by their fathers. Some brides still vow to "love and obey" their husbands and some bridegrooms vow to "care for" their wives. A groom might remove his bride's garter, a symbol of her virginity, as a public representation of his claim on her sexuality. Brides toss their bouquets towards a group of single women, who compete to catch the bouquet; the woman who catches the bouquet is believed to have the good fortune to be the next woman to get married. These traditions, though often attacked by critics and scholars, nevertheless remain a treasured part of many ceremonies, cherished by both bride and groom.
See also
- Alimony.
- Annulment, separation and divorce.
- Arranged marriage
- Betrothal.
- Common-law marriage.
- Dating Do's and Don'ts.
- Engagement.
- Honeymoon.
- Legal aspects of transsexualism.
- Mail-order bride.
- Morganatic marriage.
- Polygamy.
- Same-sex marriage.
- US rights and responsibilities of marriage
- White wedding.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Marriage."
Synonym: WifeSynonym: married woman (n). (additional references) |
| Antonym: husband (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Generality | Everyone, everybody; all hands, all the world and his wife; anybody, N or M, all sorts. |
Libertine | Adulteress, advoutress, courtesan, prostitute, strumpet, harlot, whore, punk, fille de joie; woman, woman of the town; streetwalker, Cyprian, miss, piece; frail sisterhood; demirep, wench, trollop, trull, baggage, hussy, drab, bitch, jade, skit, rig, quean, mopsy, minx, harridan; unfortunate, unfortunate female, unfortunate woman; woman of easy virtue; (unchaste); wanton, fornicatress; Jezebel, Messalina, Delilah, Thais, Phryne, Aspasia, Lais, lorette, cocotte, petite dame, grisette; demimonde; chippy; sapphist; spiritual wife; white slave. |
Marriage | Verb: marry, wive, take to oneself a wife; be married, be spliced; go off, pair off; wed, espouse, get hitched, lead to the hymeneal altar, take "for better for worse", give one's hand to, bestow one's hand upon. |
Phrase: the gray mare the better horse; " a world-without-end bargain "; "marriages are made in Heaven "; " render me worthy of this noble wife "; si qua voles apte nubere nube pari. | |
Feme, feme coverte; squaw, lady; matron, matronage, matronhood; man and wife; wedded pair, Darby and Joan; spiritual wife. | |
Bridesmaid, bridesman, best man; bride, bridegroom. married man, married woman, married couple; neogamist, Benedict, partner, spouse, mate, yokemate; husband, man, consort, baron; old man, good man; wife of one's bosom; helpmate, rib, better half, gray mare, old woman, old lady, good wife, goodwife. | |
Multitude | Noun: mul numerous; Adjective: numerosity, numerality; multiplicity; profusion; (plenty); legion, host; great number, large number, round number, enormous number; a quantity, numbers, array, sight, army, sea, galaxy; scores, peck, bushel, shoal, swarm, draught, bevy, cloud, flock, herd, drove, flight, covey, hive, brood, litter, farrow, fry, nest; crowd; (assemblage); lots; all in the world and his wife. |
Saltiness | Adjective: salty, salt, saline, brackish, briny; salty as brine, salty as a herring, salty as Lot's wife. |
Woman | Dame, madam, madame, mistress, Mrs. lady, donna belle, matron, dowager, goody, gammer; Frau, frow, Vrouw, rani; good woman, good wife; squaw; wife. (marriage); matronage, matronhood. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Wife |
| English words defined with "wife": Lot's wife. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "wife": Bachelor's Wife ♦ DOG'S WIFE or LADY ♦ Noah's Wife ♦ Pilate's Wife, Potiphar's Wife. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "wife": Woman. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Wife" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. Pidgin English (wife). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | What would your wife think (A Time to Kill; writing credit: Akiva Goldsman) That's my wife, Carolyn (American Beauty; writing credit: Alan Ball) I bet he hasn't even got a wife. Look at his sweater (A Hard Day's Night; writing credit: Alun Owen) So I understand you wish to marry my wife. (Sleuth; writing credit: Anthony Shaffer) Look, I'll make it easy for you. The time has come when you must tell me you have a wife and two adorable childrenand this madness between us can't go on any longer (Notorious; writing credit: Ben Hecht) | |
Lyrics | I need a wife in my life and ma, you're lookin' like (I Do (Wanna Get Close To You); performing artist: 3LW) Were you in the yard with your wife and children (Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning); performing artist: Alan Jackson) His wife remembers well the man she knew (Birmingham; performing artist: Amanda Marshall) I've got a wife now (How Much I Feel; performing artist: Ambrosia) Where your wife really love me cause the sex is so (Still Fly; performing artist: Big Tymers) | |
Clever | Behind every great man is a great woman, and behind her is his wife. (references; author: Groucho Marx) Marital problems? You don't need a new wife, you need a new life! (references; author: unknown) A man who thinks he is smarter than his wife has a very smart wife! (references; author: unknown) You are an engineer if you introduce your wife as "mylady@home.wife". (references; author: unknown) Seen on the back of a biker's vest: If you can read this, my wife fell off. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Couple Takes a Wife (1972) My Wife Next Door (1972) Your Money or Your Wife (1972) Massage Parlor Wife (1971) Take My Wife Now (1971) | |
Song Titles | Wife of the Soldier, The (performing artist: Steeleye Span) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | An adult black man is pictured here in a home setting at the kitchen table with his wife, daughter and son. He is assembling a model car, indicating the digital facility he maintains. He is also seen outdoors with his three children. He was diagnosed as having osteogenic sarcoma of the upper left arm. Surgeons implanted a metal rod in place of the cancerous bone. A new technique. Since the muscle and tendon were saved, he still has use of the arm. The procedure was possible since his cancer had not spread. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer). |  | William M. Scaife With wife in interior of Alaska. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | Truck no. 19 - Here and there in Idaho and Montana William M. Scaife and wife on July 2, 1922 Triangulation party of William M. Scaife. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | The ferry boat "Anne Marie", named for the wife of tobacco magnate R. J. Reynolds. This vessel makes the 5-mile trip 3-4 times daily from the mainland to Marsh Landing Dock on Sapelo Island. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | Village of Attu on Attu Island. Attu was one of two Aleutian islands captured by Japanese forces during the Second World War. A tragedy occurred here as the Weather Bureau observer and his wife attempted suicide during the Japanese invasion. The observer succeeded but his wife survived and was incarcerated for the duration of the war. F&WS B-50338. Credit: America's Coastlines. |  | Leo Attungowruk and wife standing, Warren Neokok and wife sitting. The men helped with the survey work. At Point Lay Village. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |
 | Neir Negovanna and his wife Roseanna share a reflective moment. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | Secretary of Defense William Cohen accompanied by his wife, Janet Langart Cohen, is greeted by the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Elite Guard during their arrival to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dec. 17. Cohen's Holiday Tour 2000 stop at Ramstein included perfo. |
 | U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander Gen. Gregory Martin; his wife, Wendy; Secretary of Defense William Cohen; his wife, Janet Langart Cohen; and former astronaut John Glenn, lead the troops and family members in celebrating the Secretary of Defense Holida. |  | Home owner Copi Perez, his daughter Ariana and wife Kim (background) weed a flower garden in front of their completed self help home in Placerville, CA. Credit: USDA. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "My Wife" by Steve Boaz Commentary: "My wife by the ohio river." | "Husband and Wife Dancing in Ba" by David Sinofksy Commentary: "Candle in foreground with husband and wife dancing in the background indoors on a sunny day." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Euripides | An old man weds a tyrant, not a wife. |
| Man's best possession is a sympathetic wife. | |
| The wife should yield in all things to her lord. | |
| Man's greatest tyrants are his wife and children. | |
Hitopadesa | She is a wife who is the soul of her husband. |
John Dryden | Lord of yourself, uncumber'd with a wife. |
John Florio | A good husband makes a good wife. |
Julius Caesar | I wished my wife to be not so much as suspected. |
Thomas Fuller | Choose a wife by your ear than your eye. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Magna Carta | 1215 | And if anyone die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased are left under age, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts due to others than Jews. (reference) |
John Locke | 1690 | My wife had a share in my estate; that neither could I forfeit. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | The bourgeois sees in his wife a mere instrument of production. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | Option by a husband will cover his wife and option by parents will cover their children under 18 years of age. (reference) |
Winston S. Churchill | 1946 | And here I speak particularly of the myriad cottage or apartment homes where the wage-earner strives amid the accidents and difficulties of life to guard his wife and children from privation and bring the family up in the fear of the Lord, or upon ethical conceptions which often play their potent part. ("Iron Curtain" Speech) |
Roe v. Wade | 1973 | A childless married couple (the Does), the wife not being pregnant, separately attacked the laws, basing alleged injury on the future possibilities of contraceptive failure, pregnancy, unpreparedness for parenthood, and impairment of the wife's health. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | Some people even talked of a promise to his wife on her deathbed, and others of the son and the uncle not letting him. |
Sylvie and Bruno | Carroll, Lewis | His wife caught the idea, and at once began giving hints of the most subtle and delicate kind |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | To this purpose, he sent his wife before him, remaining himself to look after some necessary affairs |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | His wife was Mother Hucheloup, a bearded creature, and very ugly |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | He has a wife and children somewhere |
The Picture of Dorian Gray | Oscar Wilde | When a man marries again it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs |
Something Wicked This Way Comes | Ray Bradbury | His wife smiled in her sleep |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | [To RICHARD] Richard, thy wife, that wretched Anne thy wife That never slept a quiet hour with thee Now fills thy sleep with perturbations |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | The death of his wife, followed by months of being alone, had marked him with guilt and shame and had left an unbreaking loneliness on him. |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I left fifteen hundred pounds with my wife, and fixed her in a good house at Redriff |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | In 1967 a husband and wife team of NIAID-supported scientists discovered the IgE antibody that causes most allergic reactions. (references) | |
A widespread program of physical therapy that works toward this goal is the Bobath technique, named for a husband and wife team who pioneered this approach in England. (references) | ||
Business | On occasion, Chen Ziming's wife was followed by 10 or more Public Security Bureau personnel on motorbikes or in cars. (references) | |
Han Xiaorong, the wife of Human Rights in China Chairman Liu Qing, was reportedly refused entry in March, and, in May, Hou Xiaotian was denied entry. (references) | ||
The gated communities, most of which are built around golf courses, give families the opportunity to engage in different sports activities within the same area, so that while the father plays golf, the wife and children are able to practice other sports or activities in close proximity. (references) | ||
Children | Mozambique | ASEM, in Beira, also provided counseling to parents who have expelled children from their homes, which usually happens when a wife has children who are unacceptable to a new husband. (references) |
Costa Rica | The Ministry of Education operates a Program for Persons with Disabilities, and in November President Rodriguez's wife received an award from Goodwill Industries for her efforts to support it. The program includes a national resource center that provides parents, students, and teachers with advanced counseling, training, and information services. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Cuba | Leyva's wife also was detained briefly. (references) |
Economic History | Romania | Ceausescu and his wife were executed on December 25, 1989, after a cursory military trial. (references) |
Argentina | Peron won a decisive victory and returned as President in October 1973 with his third wife, Maria Estela Isabel Martinez de Peron, as Vice President. (references) | |
Argentina | Peron died on July 1, 1974. His wife succeeded him in office, but her administration was undermined by economic problems, Peronist intraparty struggles, and growing terrorism. (references) | |
Human Rights | Korea | Hong and his wife escaped from their abductors and then requested asylum. (references) |
Singapore | His wife agreed with a request by prosecutors that he undergo psychiatric treatment. (references) | |
Philippines | Police claimed the victim was a ranking member of the NPA, a charge denied by his wife. (references) | |
Political Economy | Bangladesh | His party's mantle passed to his wife, Begum Khaleda Zia. (references) |
Political Rights | Fiji | The wife of former President Ratu Mara is one of the three highest ranking chiefs. (references) |
Kuwait | In the most serious case, the Minister of Oil was accused of being an agent for a foreign petroleum company because his wife was allegedly on the company's payroll. (references) | |
Travel | Uae | Never ask about a man's wife. (references) |
Saudi Arabia | Unless one is on familiar terms with a Saudi, it may be discourteous to ask about a man's wife or daughters; ask instead about his family. (references) | |
Women | Kazakhstan | The maximum sentence for wife beating is 3 years. (references) |
Worker Rights | Brazil | In July labor activist Jose Pinheiro Lima and his wife and son were killed near Maraba in the state of Para. (references) |
Hong Kong | In cases where the claimed relationship as husband and wife does not satisfy the immigration officer, applications are rejected. (references) | |
Nigeria | Bisi Dan Musa, a prominent Lagos businesswoman and wife of a former presidential candidate, was arrested and charged with 19 counts of "child stealing" and "slave dealing;" 16 children between the ages of 1 and 4 reportedly were found in her custody. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | FEMALE, n. One of the opposing, or unfair, sex. The Maker, at Creation's birth, With living things had stocked the earth. From elephants to bats and snails, They all were good, for all were males. But when the Devil came and saw He said: "By Thine eternal law Of growth, maturity, decay, These all must quickly pass away And leave untenanted the earth Unless Thou dost establish birth" -- Then tucked his head beneath his wing To laugh -- he had no sleeve -- the thing With deviltry did so accord, That he'd suggested to the Lord. The Master pondered this advice, Then shook and threw the fateful dice Wherewith all matters here below Are ordered, and observed the throw; Then bent His head in awful state, Confirming the decree of Fate. From every part of earth anew The conscious dust consenting flew, While rivers from their courses rolled To make it plastic for the mould. Enough collected (but no more, For niggard Nature hoards her store) He kneaded it to flexible clay, While Nick unseen threw some away. And then the various forms He cast, Gross organs first and finer last; No one at once evolved, but all By even touches grew and small Degrees advanced, till, shade by shade, To match all living things He'd made Females, complete in all their parts Except (His clay gave out) the hearts. "No matter," Satan cried; "with speed I'll fetch the very hearts they need" -- So flew away and soon brought back The number needed, in a sack. That night earth range with sounds of strife -- Ten million males each had a wife; That night sweet Peace her pinions spread O'er Hell -- ten million devils dead! G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Art Linkletter | I do what a lot of people do in America. I give it away. I give it away to all kinds of charities and have and I continue. I favor children's charities, orphans, discouraged children, the Children's Bureau of Los Angeles, where my wife is very active. |
Don Rickles | Well, let me tell you this. I used to sit in his dressing room, and he would have a nine iron in his hand. And I'd say, you know, Dean, tomorrow the wife and I are going to go to New York and we're going to have wonderful time. |
Gene Wilder | Pompea! She was his wife, and she was unfaithful to him. So he got mad and he jumped on her, up and down, up and down, until he squashed her like a bug! Please don't jump on me! |
James Lipton | To say the least. There was ten seconds of silence after it. Afterward, in the green room, his wife, Felicia, said to me, that's the first time Jack's ever said that in public. It was an extraordinary moment for us. |
Judith Miller | In constant fear. Because you know if you know that if you even criticize him at all, that your wife is likely to be raped, your children will be imprisoned. |
Rod Steiger | Just stay mentally healthy and physically healthy and make sure my son and wife respect me, whether I'm alive or to hear my name today or tomorrow. |
Rush Limbaugh | We don't know just how much money Tom Daschle and his wife make because they refuse to release their tax returns, but we do know they make millions. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | How often we read of a husband and wife both working, struggling from paycheck to paycheck to raise a family, meet a mortgage, pay their taxes and bills. |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | A few days after the war began, I received a telegram from Joanne Speicher, the wife of the first pilot killed in the gulf, Lieutenant Commander Scott Speicher. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | Two weeks later, his wife Judy suffered a cerebral aneurysm. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Wife" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.98% of the time. "Wife" is used about 17,088 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.98% | 17,084 | 548 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.02% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Total | 100.00% | 17,088 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "wife": all in the world and his wife ♦ all the world and his wife ♦ Butter wife ♦ child wife ♦ common law wife ♦ common wife ♦ desertion of a wife ♦ divorce one's wife ♦ farmer's wife ♦ fellow wife ♦ good house wife ♦ good wife ♦ his lawful wife ♦ his wedded wife ♦ house wife ♦ husband and wife ♦ Keep Your Wife Happy Qigong ♦ late wife ♦ lawful wife ♦ live as husband and wife ♦ live as man and wife ♦ Lot's wife ♦ man and wife ♦ model wife ♦ my intended wife ♦ my wife ♦ neighbor's wife ♦ neighbour's wife ♦ old wife ♦ oyster wife ♦ priest's wife ♦ property held jointly by husband and wife ♦ pudding wife ♦ salty as Lot's wife ♦ spiritual wife ♦ take to wife ♦ the wife of his bosom ♦ To give to wife ♦ To take to wife ♦ wife and children ♦ wife batting ♦ wife like ♦ wife of one's youth. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "wife": wife-and-child-beater, wife-and-motherhood, wife-at, wife-batterer, wife-battering, wife-beater, wife-beaters, wife-beating, wife-doesn't-understand-me, wife-givers, wife-has, wife-killer, wife-mother, wife-murder, wife-murderer, wife-next-door, wife-swappers, wife-swapping, wife-takers, wife-thrashing, Wife-to-be. | |
Ending with "wife": child-wife, husband-and-wife, husband-wife, mid-wife, sister-wife. | |
Containing "wife": housewife-wife-mother, husband-wife privilege. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
wife lover | 9,356 | cheating wife story | 454 |
wife | 7,095 | wetlands wife | 397 |
wife sex | 5,345 | wife gang bang | 371 |
angel wife lover | 3,200 | wife story | 356 |
hot wife | 2,509 | naughty wife | 350 |
wife nude | 1,937 | pic of wife | 327 |
slut wife | 1,909 | wife photo | 311 |
cheating wife | 1,702 | wanton wife | 296 |
wife swapping | 1,525 | old wife tale | 273 |
my wife | 1,405 | wife sharing | 264 |
sexy wife | 1,400 | reader wife | 255 |
naked wife | 1,384 | mature wife | 243 |
amateur wife | 1,158 | our hot wife | 240 |
wife picture | 1,057 | rate wife | 235 |
slut wife story | 924 | wife sex story | 235 |
horny wife | 807 | slut wife story free | 235 |
hot wife forum | 732 | swap my wife | 221 |
russian wife | 681 | wetland wife | 217 |
ex wife | 606 | gift for wife | 209 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "wife"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | vrou (woman), gade. (various references) | |
Albanian | grua (bint, female, Jill, lady, missis, my better half, spouse, woman). (various references) | |
Arabic | قرينة (presumption), حرم (abridge, ban, be bereaved, be forbidden, bereave, contraband, debar, deny, deprive, disable, dispossess, divest, excommunicate, forbade, forbid, geld, interdict, inviolable, outlaw, prohibit, proscribe, restrain, rob, sacred, sanctuary, starve, suppress), زوجة (consort, lady, partner, squaw, woman), عقيلة, الزوجة (spouse). (various references) | |
Asturian | muyer. (various references) | |
Aymara | huarmi. (various references) | |
Bemba | umukashi. (various references) | |
Blackfoot | ohkiimaan. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | съпруга (better half, companion, consort, lady, mate, spouse, uxor, woman). (various references) | |
Catalan | dona (woman). (various references) | |
Cebuano | asawa. (various references) | |
Chinese | 妻子 . (various references) | |
Cornish | gwrék. (various references) | |
Czech | manželka (woman), žena (female, woman). (various references) | |
Danish | kone (woman), hustru. (various references) | |
Dutch | vrouw (dame, female, king, queen, woman), gemalin, echtgenote. (various references) | |
Ecuadorian Quechua | huarmi. (various references) | |
Esperanto | edzino. (various references) | |
Faeroese | kona (woman). (various references) | |
Farsi | زن (Distaff, Woman), زوجه (Lady, Spouse, Wedlock), عیال , خانم (Dame, Gentlewoman, Lady, Madem, Mademe, Mistress). (various references) | |
Finnish | vaimo, rouva (madam, married woman, Mrs.), puoliso (consort, husband, spouse), aviovaimo. (various references) | |
French | femme, épouse. (various references) | |
Frisian | wiif (woman). (various references) | |
German | Frau (broad, female, femme, lady, madam, mate, missus, mrs, mrs., Ms, ms., signora, woman), Gattin (partner, spouse), Ehefrau (wive), Weib (broad, female, old woman, piece, shrew, vixen, woman, Xanthippe), Gemahlin (consort, peeress, spouse). (various references) | |
Greek | γυναίκα (woman). (various references) | |
Guarani | tembireko, rembireko. (various references) | |
Hawaiian | grua (woman). (various references) | |
Hebrew | שגל (concubine, consort, mistress, paramour, woman), קונעה, פלג גוף, עזר כנגדו (helpmate), זוגה (female mate, spouse), אשת חיקו, אשת ברית, אשה (a bit of skirt, female, spouse, woman), בת זוג (consort, mate, partner, spouse), רעיה (beloved woman, lady). (various references) | |
Hungarian | feleség (better half, marrow, missus, old woman, rib, wives), hitves (consort, spouse, wives). (various references) | |
Icelandic | kona (Woman), eiginkona. (various references) | |
Indonesian | istri (consort), bini (additional). (various references) | |
Inuktitut | nuliaq. (various references) | |
Irish | bean (woman, woman; Mrs.). (various references) | |
Italian | moglie (partner). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 配偶者 (husband, spouse), 妻 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | おくさま (his wife, madam, married lady, your wife), おくさん (his wife, madam, married lady, your wife), おかみ (authorities, Emperor, government, hostess, landlady, looking on by an outsider, madam, mistress, proprietress), ワイフ , さいしつ, さいくん, ふじょし (woman), ふじん (battle formation, female, heartlessness, inhumanity, lineup, madam, Mrs, Very sincerely yours, woman), つま, にょうぼう, かない, かみさん , ごしんぞう, ごしんぞ, はいぐうしゃ (husband, spouse). (various references) | |
Kongo | nkento. (various references) | |
Korean | 아내 (Wives). (various references) | |
Lombard | mié. (various references) | |
Macedonian | sopruga. (various references) | |
Malagasy | vady. (various references) | |
Manx | ben phoost (married woman), ben heshey, ben heshee. (various references) | |
Maori | wahine. (various references) | |
Maya | atan. (various references) | |
Norwegian | kone, ektefelle (husband). (various references) | |
Papago | hehg. (various references) | |
Papiamen | señora (lady, madam, Mrs., thou, ye, you), kasá (husband), esposa. (various references) | |
Pidgin English | wife. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ifeway.(various references) | |
Polish | żona. (various references) | |
Portuguese | mulher (a bit of skirt, cummer, dona, female, jade, lady, ladylove, mate, old lady, person, petticoat, she, woman), esposa (helpmate, helpmeet, lady, spouse). (various references) | |
Provencal | esposa. (various references) | |
Romanian | soţie (consort, feme, goodwife, helpmate, partner, rib, spouse, yoke fellow). (various references) | |
Romany | romni. (various references) | |
Ruanda | umugore. (various references) | |
Russian | жена (missis, missus, rib, the better half, wives). (various references) | |
Scottish | bean (handle, meddle, nf. g. mnatha; d. mnaoi; v. bhean; pl. mnathan; g.pl., touch, woman). (various references) | |
Sepedi | mosadi. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | supruga (lady, spouse), žena (female, harp, lady, skirt, woman). (various references) | |
Shona | mukadzi. (various references) | |
Sicilian | sposa. (various references) | |
Sotho | mosadi (woman). (various references) | |
Spanish | esposa (helpmate, love), mujer (dame, inamorata, love, petticoat, sister, woman). (various references) | |
Sranan | wefi. (various references) | |
Swahili | mke. (various references) | |
Swazi | ú-fâti. (various references) | |
Swedish | maka (consort, edge, partner, spouse), hustru, fru (lady, madam, Madame, married woman, matron, Mrs(misses), mrs.). (various references) | |
Tagalog | maybáhay. (various references) | |
Turkish | zevce (goodwife, rib, squaw), kari, karı (bedfellow, broad, Dame, dutch, Jane, old lady, old woman, spouse, the old woman, woman), hanım (Dame, lady, mamasan, Miss, missis, mistress, mrs, mrs., ms, ms., rib, wifie), ex, eş (better half, coequal, companion, compeer, consort, correspondent, corresponding, counterpart, couple, doublet, duplicate, dutch, equal, fellow, helpmate, helpmeet, husband, identic, identical, iso-, lady, like, match, matching, mate, old lady, old man, old woman, one of a pair, pair, Parti, partner, placenta, spousal, spouse, the missis, the old woman), avrat, aíle (family). (various references) | |
Turkmen | maюgala (family, household, wife and husband), heleя (woman), aяal (woman). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | жінка (distaff, mate, she, woman), дружина (consort, lady, missis, missus, moiety, spouse, yoke fellow, yoke mate). (various references) | |
Welsh | gwraig (woman). (various references) | |
Wolof | jabar (go to work). (various references) | |
Yucatec | pamilya (family), atan. (various references) | |
Zulu | umfazi (woman), inkosikazi (lady, madam, Mrs.). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | nitadam. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | uxor. (various references) |
| Middle French | 1400-1600 | consort. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Genesis Chapter 24, Verse 7 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | KurioV o qeoV tou ouranou kai o qeoV thV ghV oV elaben me ek tou oikou tou patroV mou kai ek thV ghV hV egenhqhn oV elalhsen moi kai wmosen moi legwn soi dwsw thn ghn tauthn kai tw spermati sou autoV apostelei ton aggelon autou emprosqen sou kai lhmyh gunaika tw uiw mou isaak ekeiqen |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Dominus Deus caeli qui tulit me de domo patris mei et de terra nativitatis meae qui locutus est mihi et iuravit dicens semini tuo dabo terram hanc ipse mittet angelum suum coram te et accipies inde uxorem filio meo |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | The Lord God of heuene that toke me fro the hows of my fadir, and fro the loond of my birth, the which hath spokun to me, and swore, seiynge, To thi seed I shal yyue this loond, he shal send his aungel bifore thee, and fro thens thow shalt taak a wijf to my sone; |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | The LORde God of heauen which toke me from my fathers house and from the lande where I was borne and which spake vnto me and sware vnto me saynge: vnto thy seed wyll I geue this lande he shall sende his angell before the yt thou mayst take a wife vnto my sonne from thence. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, To thy seed I will give this land: he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and made an oath to me, saying, To your seed I will give this land: he will send his angel before you and give you a wife for my son in that land. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Genesis Chapter 24, Verse 7 |
| Cebuano | Si Jehova, ang Dios sa mga langit, nga mikuha kanako sa balay sa akong amahan ug sa yuta nga akong natawohan, ug siya nagsulti kanako, ug nanumpa siya kanako, ug nag-ingon: Sa imong kaliwatan igahatag ko kining yutaa, siya magasugo sa iyang manolonda sa atubangan mo, ug ikaw magakuha gikan didto ug asawa alang sa akong anak nga lalake. |
| Croatian | Jahve, Bog nebesa, koji me odveo iz kuæe moga oca i rodnog kraja i koji mi je pod zakletvom obeæao: 'Tvome æu potomstvu dati ovu zemlju', pred tobom æe poslati svog anðela, i odande æeš ti dovesti ženu mome sinu. |
| Danish | HERREN, Himmelens Gud, som tog mig bort fra min Faders Hus og min Hjemstavns Land, som talede til mig og tilsvor mig, at han vil give mit Afkom dette Land, han vil sende sin Engel foran dig, så du kan tage min Søn en Hustru derfra; |
| Dutch | De HEERE, de God des hemels, Die mij uit mijns vaders huis en uit het land mijner maagschap genomen heeft, en Die tot mij gesproken heeft, en Die mij gezworen heeft, zeggende: Aan uw zaad zal Ik dit land geven! Die Zelf zal Zijn Engel voor uw aangezicht zenden, dat gij voor mijn zoon van daar een vrouw neemt. |
| Finnish | Herra, taivaan Jumala, joka otti minut pois isäni kodista ja synnyinmaastani, hän, joka puhui minulle ja vannoi minulle sanoen: `Sinun jälkeläisillesi minä annan tämän maan`, hän lähettää enkelinsä sinun edelläsi, niin että saat sieltä vaimon pojalleni. |
| French | L`Éternel, le Dieu du ciel, qui m`a fait sortir de la maison de mon père et de ma patrie, qui m`a parlé et qui m`a juré, en disant: Je donnerai ce pays à ta postérité, lui-même enverra son ange devant toi; et c`est de là que tu prendras une femme pour mon fils. |
| German | Der HERR, der Gott des Himmels, der mich von meines Vaters Hause genommen hat und von meiner Heimat, der mir geredet hat und mir auch geschworen hat und gesagt: Dies Land will ich deinem Samen geben, der wird seine Engel vor dir her senden, daß du meinem Sohn daselbst ein Weib nehmest. |
| Haitian Creole | Seyè a, Bondye syèl la, te pran m' fè m' soti lakay papa m' ak nan peyi fanmi mwen. Li pale avè m'. Li fè m' sèman l'ap bay pitit pitit mwen yo peyi sa a. Enben, se li menm ki va fè zanj li pran devan ou, pou ou chwazi yon madanm nan moun laba yo pou pitit gason m' lan. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | TUHAN, Allah yang menguasai langit, telah membawa aku dari rumah ayahku dan dari negeri sanak saudaraku, dan Ia telah bersumpah kepadaku bahwa Ia akan memberikan negeri ini kepada keturunanku. Dia juga akan mengutus malaikat-Nya untuk menolongmu, supaya engkau dapat menemukan seorang istri dari sana untuk anakku. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Bahwa Tuhan, Allah langit, yang telah mengeluarkan daku dari pada rumah bapaku dan dari pada negeri keluargaku dan yang telah berfirman dan bersumpah padaku, firman-Nya: Bahwa kepada anak buahmu Aku akan mengaruniakan tanah ini, maka Ia juga akan menyuruhkan malaekat-Nya di hadapanmu, supaya engkau mengambil seorang bini akan anakku dari sana. |
| Maori | Ko Ihowa, ko te Atua o te rangi, nana nei ahau i tango mai i te whare o toku papa, i te whenua hoki i whanau ai ahau, i korero ki ahau, i oati hoki ki ahau, Ka hoatu e ahau tenei whenua ki ou uri; mana e tono mai tana anahera ki mua i a koe, a ka riro mai i a koe tetahi wahine ma taku tama i reira. |
| Norwegian | Herren, himmelens Gud, som førte mig bort fra min fars hus og fra mitt fedreland, og som talte til mig, og som svor mig til og sa: Din ætt vil jeg gi dette land, han skal sende sin engel foran dig, så du kan hente en hustru til min sønn derfra. |
| Portuguese | O Senhor, Deus do céu, que me tirou da casa de meu pai e da terra da minha parentela, e que me falou, e que me jurou, dizendo: Â tua o semente darei esta terra; ele enviará o seu anjo diante de si, para que tomes de lá mulher para meu filho. |
| Rumanian | Domnul, Dumnezeul cerului, care m`a scos din casa tatqlui meu wi din patria mea, care mi -a vorbit wi mi -a jurat, zicknd: ,,Seminyei tale voi da yara aceasta,`` va trimete pe Kngerul Squ knaintea ta; wi de acolo vei lua o nevastq fiului meu. |
| Russian | , , , , : ` `, -- , ; |
| Swedish | HERREN, himmelens Gud, som har fört mig bort ifrån min faders hus och ifrån mitt fädernesland, han som har talat till mig och svurit och sagt: 'Åt din säd skall jag giva detta land', han skall sända sin ängel framför dig, så att du därifrån skall kunna få en hustru åt min son. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "wife": wifed, wifedom, wifedoms, wifehood, wifehoods, wifeless, wifelier, wifeliest, wifelike, wifeliness, wifelinesses, wifely, wifes. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "wife": alewife, farmwife, fishwife, goodwife, housewife, huswife, kalewife, midwife, oldwife, superwife. (additional references) | |
Words containing "wife": housewifeliness, housewifelinesses, housewifely, housewiferies, housewifery, housewifey, huswifes, midwifed, midwiferies, midwifery, midwifes, unwifely. (additional references) | |
| |
"Wife" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aife, awife, hife, ifa, ife, ifee, ifi, jife, kife, swife, wafe, wafel, waff, wafi, waife, waifed, waifi, weef, wibe, wice, wie, wif, wifed, wifee, wifel, wifer, wifes, wifey, wiff, wiffed, wifie, wifs, wift, wify, wige, wije, Wilfer, wime, wivex, Wixey, wize, woef, wrif, wrife, wuce, wuf, Wufi, wyf, wyfes. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "wife" (pronounced wī"f) |
| 2 | -ī" f | Fife, knife, life, rife, strife. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-f-i-w" | |
-1 letter: few, fie. | |
-2 letters: ef, if, we. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-f-i-w" | |
+1 letter: wifed, wifes. | |
+2 letters: waffie, waifed, wifely. | |
+3 letters: alewife, fanwise, fawnier, fitchew, flawier, huswife, jewfish, lifeway, lowlife, midwife, oldwife, swifter, waffies, whiffed, whiffer, whiffet, whiffle, wifedom, wiftier. | |
+4 letters: farmwife, fawniest, fawnlike, fesswise, fewtrils, firewall, fireweed, firewood, firework, fireworm, firmware, fishwife, fitchews, flatwise, flawiest, forewing, freewill, frowsier, frowzier, giftware, goodwife, huswifes, kalewife, leftwing, lifeways, lifework, lowlifer, lowlifes, midwifed, midwifes, sawflies, swifters, swiftest, swiftlet, unwifely, wafering, waiflike, wakerife, weakfish, weariful, weftwise, whiffers, whiffets, whiffled, whiffler, whiffles, whitefly, wifedoms, wifehood, wifeless, wifelier, wifelike, wiftiest, wildfire, wildlife, wolflike, writeoff. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Historic 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Quotations: Spoken 14. Quotations: Speeches 15. Usage Frequency 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Bible Trace | 21. Derivations 22. Rhymes 23. Anagrams 24. Bibliography |
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