wife

UK: /ˈwaɪf/ US: /waɪf/ ,(wīf )

Inflections of 'wife' (n): npl: wives

Inflections of 'wife' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

wifes

v 3rd person singular

wifing

v pres p

wifed

v past

wifed

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

wife /waɪf/   n. [countable] , pl. wives /waɪvz/ .

1. Anthropology a married woman.

wife•ly, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wife  (wīf ), n., pl. wives (wīvz),  v., wifed, wif•ing. 

n. 

1. Anthropology a woman joined in marriage to a man;
   a woman considered in relation to her husband;
   spouse.
2. a woman (archaic or dial., except in idioms):
   old wives' tale.
3. take to wife, to marry (a particular woman):
   He took an heiress to wife.

v.i., v.t. 

4. Slang Terms [Rare.] wive.

• bef. 900; Middle English, Old English wīf woman; cognate with Dutch wijf, German Weib, Old Norse vīf 

wife′dom, n. 
wife′less, adj. 
wife′less•ness, n. 

-wife, 

1. a combining form of wife, now unproductive, occurring in compound words that in general designate traditional roles or occupations of women:
   fishwife;
   housewife;
   midwife.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wife / waɪf/ noun ( wives / waɪvz/)

1. one's (female) partner in marriage; a married woman
   Related adjective(s): uxorial
2. an archaic or dialect word for woman
3. take to wife ⇒ to marry (a woman)

Etymology: Old English wīf; related to Old Norse vīf (perhaps from vīfathr veiled), Old High German wīb (German Weib)

ˈwifehood noun

ˈwifely adjective