WIFE (wives)

Pronunciation (US):

 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)

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...):

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

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

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

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

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)

crown princess (the wife of a crown prince)

first lady (the wife of a chief executive)

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

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))

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

marchioness (the wife or widow of a marquis)

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

Instance hyponyms:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Antonym:

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