n. (pl. wives) 1 a married woman esp. in relation to her husband. 2 archaic a woman, esp. an old or uneducated one. 3 (in comb.) a woman engaged in a specified activity (fishwife; housewife; midwife). have (or take) to wife archaic marry (a woman). wife-swapping colloq. exchanging wives for sexual relations. wifehood n. wifeless adj. wifelike adj. wifely adj. wifeliness n. wifish adj.
[ OE wif woman: ult. orig. unkn. ]