Wordwyrt

wife

/ˈwaɪf/WYF
/ˈwaɪf/WYF

Meaningwoman

Common meaning: a married woman

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishwīf‘woman, wife’sourceB&T
  2. Middle Englishwyfsource
  3. Englishwife‘a married woman’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English wīf ‘woman’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry WOMAN, p. 716 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • wīf Old English “woman”

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