Wives

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /waɪvz/

Definitions

1. Women who are legally married to a spouse
2. Females united in marriage to a partner
3. A woman joined in matrimony to another person

Etymology: The plural "wives" is simply the regular plural of "wife," so its story is really the story of "wife." That word has been in English since Old English, where "wīf" meant "woman" in general, not specifically a married woman. The narrowing to a spouse came later, and the "woman" sense survives in older phrases like "fishwife" and "midwife." Its ancestry runs back to a Proto-Germanic form, "*wībą," shared with many relatives across the Germanic languages, including German "Weib" and Dutch "wijf," which still mean "woman" in those tongues. The deeper origin is uncertain. Scholars have proposed several competing roots, none settled. One links it to a Tocharian word for "genitals," another to an Old English verb meaning "wrap, clothe," which would suggest a married woman identified by her veil or scarf, and a third to a verb meaning "move to and fro," which would suggest a busy housekeeper or maidservant.

Synonyms: spouses, partners, mates, consorts, better halves

Antonyms: husbands