Husbond

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A married man, the male partner in a marriage ; in older English, the master or head who governed a house and managed its land and goods
2. The male half of a wedded couple ; an archaic term for the householder who ran a dwelling and oversaw its property and servants
3. A man wed to a woman ; the head of a medieval household who directed its affairs and looked after the estate's holdings

Etymology: Before it meant a married man, this term meant the master of a household. Middle English "husbond" comes from Old Norse "húsbóndi," built from "hús" ("house") and "bóndi," a householder or occupier, which derives from "búa," "to dwell." Norse speakers brought the compound into northern English, where it merged with an older Old English form, "hūsbonda," that already meant head of a house. The sense of spouse developed later. Medieval writers used the word for the man who headed a household, and it narrowed only gradually to the husband of a particular woman, though the exact timing is uncertain. The older householder sense survives in its relatives: "husbandry" once meant the management of a household and its land, and to "husband" resources still means using them carefully, as a steward would.