wife

Etymology
From, , from , from , from.

Germanic cognates include 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

The further etymology is unknown, with a number of disputed suggestions. One suggestion connects Tocharian A/B /, for a hypothetical Indo-European. Another suggestion connects Old English, Old Norse for a suggested original motive of "married woman wearing a scarf".

Yet another suggestion connects Old High German, Old Norse , for a motive of "one who is moving busily; housekeeper, maidservant" (cf. German ).

Noun

 * 1) A married woman, especially in relation to her spouse.
 * 2) * 1952, P. G. Wodehouse, Big Business, in 'A Few Quick Ones', Everyman, London: 2009, p 127-8.
 * All through Reginald's deeply moving performance she had sat breathless, her mind in a whirl and her soul stirred to her very depths. With each low note that he pulled up from the soles of his shoes she could feel the old affection and esteem surging back into her with a whoosh, and long before he had taken his sixth bow she knew ... that it would be madness to try to seek happiness elsewhere, particularly as the wife of a man with large ears and no chin, who looked as if he were about to start in the two-thirty race at Kempton Park.
 * 1) The female of a pair of mated animals.
 * 1) * 1952, P. G. Wodehouse, Big Business, in 'A Few Quick Ones', Everyman, London: 2009, p 127-8.
 * All through Reginald's deeply moving performance she had sat breathless, her mind in a whirl and her soul stirred to her very depths. With each low note that he pulled up from the soles of his shoes she could feel the old affection and esteem surging back into her with a whoosh, and long before he had taken his sixth bow she knew ... that it would be madness to try to seek happiness elsewhere, particularly as the wife of a man with large ears and no chin, who looked as if he were about to start in the two-thirty race at Kempton Park.
 * 1) The female of a pair of mated animals.
 * 1) The female of a pair of mated animals.

Usage notes
Although mostly used only humorously, wife can be used with the to indicate one's own wife, as in "I'd like to go, but the wife wants me home".

Synonyms

 * See also Thesaurus:wife
 * See also Thesaurus:wife

Antonyms

 * , were

Hypernyms

 * ,, partner, significant other, spouse, wedder

Translations

 * Abkhaz: аҳәса, аԥҳәыс
 * Afrikaans:
 * Ainu: マチ
 * Aiton:
 * Akkadian: 𒁮
 * Albanian:
 * Alviri-Vidari: زینه
 * Ambonese Malay: maitua
 * Amharic:
 * Arabic: زَوْجَة,
 * Egyptian Arabic: زوجَة, مرات
 * Hijazi Arabic: زُوجَة
 * South Levantine Arabic: مرا, زوجَة
 * Armenian:
 * Aromanian: ãnveastã, sutsãlji, nicuchirã
 * Assamese: ঘৈণী, পত্নী
 * Asturian: ,
 * Avar: лъади
 * Azerbaijani:, zövcə, əyal
 * Bashkir: ҡатын
 * Basque:
 * Bats: ფსტუ
 * Belarusian: жо́нка
 * Bengali:, , , , , , ,
 * Betawi: bini
 * Bookan: andu
 * Breton:
 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Burmese: ,
 * Buryat: һамган
 * Butuanon: asawa
 * Carpathian Rusyn: жона́, жена́, ма́нжелка
 * Catalan: ,
 * Cebuano: asawa
 * Chakma:
 * Chechen: зуда
 * Chickasaw: imihoo
 * Chinese:
 * Cantonese: 妻子, 老婆, 太太
 * Dungan: чижын, чи, пәе
 * Eastern Min: 老媽
 * Gan: 老婆
 * Hakka: 餔娘, 太太, 老姐
 * Hokkien:, , , , 牽的, ,
 * Jin: 老婆
 * Mandarin:, ,  ,  ,
 * Northern Min: 老媽
 * Teochew: 某, 老婆
 * Wu: 老婆, 太太, 妻子
 * Xiang: 堂客
 * Chukchi: ӈэвъэн
 * Coptic:
 * Bohairic: ⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ
 * Sahidic: ϩⲓⲙⲉ
 * Cornish: gwreg
 * Crimean Tatar: apaqay, apay
 * Czech:, ,
 * Dalmatian: mojer, molier, mulir
 * Danish:, ,
 * Dibabawon Manobo: asawa
 * Dutch: ,
 * Eastern Cham: ꨨꨕꨳꨪꩇ
 * Egyptian:, ,
 * Erzya: ни, пола
 * Esperanto:
 * Estonian:
 * Evenki: аси
 * Faliscan: uxo
 * Faroese:, vív
 * Finnish: ,
 * French: ,
 * Friulian: femine, muîr, cristiane
 * Galician:, , dona
 * Georgian: ცოლი
 * German:, , , , ,
 * Gothic: 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃
 * Greek:, ,
 * Ancient: γαμετή, δάμαρ, ὄαρ
 * Greenlandic: nuliaq
 * Guaraní: embireko (t-)
 * Gujarati: પત્ની
 * Hausa: matar aure
 * Hawaiian: wahine
 * Hebrew: ,
 * Higaonon: asawa
 * Hindi:, , , , , , , , , , ज़न, , ज़ौजा, , ,
 * Hungarian: ,
 * Icelandic: ,
 * Ido:
 * Indonesian:
 * Ingrian: nain, naisikko, vaimo
 * Ingush: цӏен-нана, сесаг
 * Interlingua: sponsa, sposa, uxor
 * Irish:, bean chéile
 * Old Irish: ben, séitig
 * Istriot: muier
 * Italian: ,
 * Japanese:, , ,  ,  ,  , ご夫人
 * Javanese: rabi, bojo wadon, garwa putri
 * Kaingang: mré nĩ fi
 * Kamba: kiveti
 * Kannada:
 * Karachay-Balkar: юй бийче, юйдеги, къатын
 * Kashmiri:, آشێنؠ, , , , ,
 * Kazakh:, жар, қатын
 * Khamti:
 * Khmer:, ,
 * Kikuyu: mũka, mũtumia
 * Korean:,  ,  ,  ,  , 와이프 ,
 * Krio: wef
 * Kurdish:
 * Central Kurdish: ,
 * Northern Kurdish:, ,
 * Kyrgyz:, катын
 * Ladin:
 * badiot: fomena
 * fascian: fémena
 * gherdëina: fëna
 * Lao: ເມຍ, ພັນລະຍາ, ບໍລິຈາ, ປັດຕະນິ, ປະລິຈາລິກາ, ຊານິກາ, ຊາຍາ
 * Latgalian: sīva
 * Latin:, nupta, , , marita, , matrona
 * Latvian:, dzīvesbiedre, dzīvesbiedrene
 * Laz: ჩილი
 * Lithuanian: ,
 * Lolopo: maerssor
 * Lombard:
 * Louisiana Creole French: fenm, épouz
 * Low German:
 * German Low German: Ehfro,, Ehfru,
 * Lü: ᦵᦙ
 * Luganda: mukyala wange
 * Luhya: omkhasi
 * Lycian: 𐊍𐊀𐊅𐊀
 * Macedonian:, со́пруга
 * Malagasy: ,
 * Malay: ,
 * Malayalam: ,
 * Maltese:
 * Manchu: ᠰᠠᡵᡤᠠᠨ
 * Manx: ben-phoost
 * Maori: hoa wahine,, hoa rangatira
 * Maranao: lilang
 * Marathi: नवरी, बायको, पत्नी
 * Mari:
 * Eastern Mari: вате
 * Mbyá Guaraní: embireko, a'yxy
 * Megleno-Romanian: niveastă
 * Mingrelian: ოსური, ჩილი
 * Moksha: рьвя
 * Mongolian:
 * Cyrillic: ,
 * Mongolian: ᠭᠡᠷᠭᠡᠢ, ᠡᠬᠡᠨᠡᠷ
 * Mwani: muka
 * Nanai: аси
 * Navajo: hweʼesdzáán
 * Neapolitan: mugliera
 * Nepali: पत्नी
 * Norman: faume, bouônnefemme
 * Northern Ohlone: háw̄a
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: hustru, ,
 * Nynorsk: hustru, kone, frue
 * Nuosu: ꀋꃀꀉꑳ
 * Occitan:
 * Odia: ସ୍ତ୍ରୀ
 * Ojibwe: niwiidigemaagan
 * Old Church Slavonic:
 * Cyrillic: жена
 * Glagolitic: ⰶⰵⱀⰰ
 * Old East Slavic: жена
 * Old English: wīf
 * Old French: fame, fam
 * Oromo: niitii
 * Ossetian: бинойнаг, ус
 * Pa'o Karen:
 * Pashto:, , ورتينه
 * Persian:
 * Dari: ,
 * Iranian Persian: ,
 * Phake:
 * Plautdietsch:
 * Polish: ,
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Punjabi: ਪਤਨੀ
 * Rohingya: bou
 * Romagnol: mój, mujéṟ
 * Romani: rromni
 * Romanian:, ,
 * Romansch: dunna, duonna, cunsorta, duna, donna
 * Russian:, ,
 * S'gaw Karen: မါ
 * Sanskrit:, , , ,
 * Santali: ᱨᱤᱱᱤᱡ, ᱮᱨᱚ
 * Sardinian: mugere, mullei, mulleri, mutzere, muzere
 * Scots: guidwife
 * Scottish Gaelic: bean-chèile,
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: жѐна, су̏пруга
 * Roman: ,
 * Sicilian:
 * Sinhalese: බිරිඳ, භාර්යාව,
 * Slovak: ,
 * Slovene:, soproga
 * Sorbian:
 * Lower Sorbian: žeńska, žona
 * Upper Sorbian:
 * Southern Altai: кадын, кадыт
 * Spanish: ,
 * Sundanese: garwa, bojo, pamajikan
 * Svan: ხეხუ̂
 * Swahili: (1/2)
 * Swedish:, ,
 * Tabasaran: хпиб
 * Tagalog:, babaeng asawa
 * Tai Dam: ꪣꪸ
 * Tai Nüa:
 * Tajik:, завҷа
 * Talysh: ژن
 * Tamil: ,
 * Taos: łȉwéna
 * Tarantino: mugghìere
 * Tarifit: tamɣart
 * Tatar:
 * Tausug: asawa
 * Telugu:, ,
 * Tetum: feen
 * Thai:, ,
 * Tibetan: སྐྱེ་དམན
 * Tigrinya: ሰበይቲ, ብዓልቲ ቤት
 * Tocharian A: śäṃ
 * Tocharian B: śana
 * Tupinambá: emirekó (t-)
 * Turkish: ,
 * Turkmen:
 * Tuvan: кадай
 * Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎘𐎚
 * Ukrainian:, , супру́га
 * Urdu: بِیوِی, پَتْنی, بیگَم, اَہْلِیَہ, زَوجَہ, زَن, خاتُونِ خانَہ, خانَم
 * Uyghur: خوتۇن
 * Uzbek:
 * Venetian: mojer, mojere
 * Vietnamese:
 * Volapük:
 * Walloon:
 * Welsh: ,
 * West Coast Bajau: endo
 * West Frisian: ,
 * White Hmong: pojniam
 * Wolof: jabar ji, iyawo
 * Yagnobi: инч
 * Yakut: ойох, кэргэн
 * Yámana: tuku
 * Yiddish: ווײַב or, פֿרוי
 * Yoruba: iyawo, aya
 * Yucatec Maya: atan
 * Zazaki:, cınék, xatun, khatun
 * Zealandic: vrouwe, wuuf
 * Zhuang: baz, yah
 * Zulu: umka,, unkosikazi
 * ǃXóõ: tâa qáe


 * Western Mashan Hmong:

Verb

 * 1)  To marry (a woman).

Translations

 * Bulgarian: женя се
 * Esperanto: edzinigi
 * German:, zur Frau nehmen
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Romanian:
 * Russian: ,

Etymology
From, from.

Noun

 * 1) woman