WIFE (wives)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: wives   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wife mean? 

• WIFE (noun)
  The noun WIFE has 1 sense:

1. a married woman; a man's partner in marriage

  Familiarity information: WIFE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WIFE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A married woman; a man's partner in marriage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

married woman; wife

Hypernyms ("wife" is a kind of...):

adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))

better half; married person; mate; partner; spouse (a person's partner in marriage)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wife"):

crown princess (the wife of a crown prince)

viscountess (a wife or widow of a viscount)

vicereine (wife of a viceroy)

ux.; uxor ((legal terminology) the Latin word for wife)

trophy wife (a wife who is an attractive young woman; seldom the first wife of an affluent older man)

signora (an Italian title of address equivalent to Mrs. when used before a name)

sheika; sheikha (the wife of a sheik)

old lady (your own wife)

missis; missus (informal term of address for someone's wife)

mayoress (the wife of a mayor)

matron (a married woman (usually middle-aged with children) who is staid and dignified)

marchioness (the wife or widow of a marquis)

homemaker; housewife; lady of the house; woman of the house (a wife who manages a household while her husband earns the family income)

honest woman (a wife who has married a man with whom she has been living for some time (especially if she is pregnant at the time))

golf widow (a wife who is left alone much of the time because her husband is playing golf)

first lady (the wife of a chief executive)

battle-ax; battle-axe (a sharp-tongued domineering wife)

Instance hyponyms:

Bathsheba ((Old Testament) the wife of Uriah and later the wife of king David; Solomon was her son by David (circa 10th century BC))

Catherine; Catherine of Aragon (first wife of Henry VIII; Henry VIII's divorce from her was the initial step of the Reformation in England (1485-1536))

Anne Hathaway; Hathaway (wife of William Shakespeare (1556-1623))

Rachel ((Old Testament) the second wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin)

Rebecca; Rebekah ((Old Testament) wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau)

Ruth (the great-grandmother of king David whose story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament)

Sarah ((Old Testament) the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac)

Antonym:

husband (a married man; a woman's partner in marriage)

Derivation:

wifely (befitting or characteristic of a wife)

 Context examples 

But for Harriet's sake, or rather for my own, and as there are no husbands and wives in the case at present, I will break my resolution now.”

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

But what sounds like good nutritional advice turns out to be an old-wives' tale.

(Salty Diet Makes You Hungry, Not Thirsty, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

“You would have done better to have trusted your wife.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When we married, my wife made over all her property to me—rather against my will, for I saw how awkward it would be if my business affairs went wrong.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He is ever the same quiet gentleman, with his thoughts busy for the comfort of his ship’s company, and his heart with his wife and children whom he has so seldom seen.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle.

(Aunt, NCI Thesaurus)

I expressed myself quite sure of that, and Mr. Barkis, turning his eyes more gently to his wife, said: She's the usefullest and best of women, C. P. Barkis.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Frederick will not be the first man who has chosen a wife with less sense than his family expected.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Besides, captains were not allowed to take their wives to sea with them.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Mr. Reed is dead, and his wife cast me off.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)