/ waɪf; NAmE / noun
( pl. wives / waɪvz; NAmE /) the woman that a man is married to; a married woman :
the doctor's wife
She's his second wife.
an increase in the number of working wives
—see also fishwife , housewife , midwife , trophy wife
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IDIOMS
see husband noun , old , world
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WORD ORIGIN
Old English wīf woman , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wijf and German Weib .