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wife

Pronunciation: /wʌɪf/

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Definition of wife

noun (plural wives /wʌɪvz/)

  • a married woman considered in relation to her husband.
  • archaic or dialect a woman, especially an old or uneducated one.

Phrases

take a woman to wife

archaic marry a woman.

Derivatives

wifehood

noun

wifeless

adjective

wife-like

adjective

wifeliness

noun

wifely

adjective

Origin:

Old English wīf 'woman', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wijf and German Weib

Spelling rule

Change the -fe to -ves to make the plurals of nouns that end in a consonant or a single vowel plus -f or -fe: (wives).

wife in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of wife in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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