Wifehood
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The quality or state of being a wife. uncountable, usually
"During the week they spent at Windsor all their necessary furniture was sent in; the more ornamental articles it was decided to leave to the choice of the fair mistress, and, as she had no visits to pay or receive, the occupation it gave Louisa saved her from any mortification she might have felt on sinking at once into the state of happy wifehood."
- 2 The character or behaviour that befits a good wife; wifeliness. uncountable, usually
"That girdle gave the vertue of chast love, / And wivehood true, to all that did it beare […]."
Example
More examples"During the week they spent at Windsor all their necessary furniture was sent in; the more ornamental articles it was decided to leave to the choice of the fair mistress, and, as she had no visits to pay or receive, the occupation it gave Louisa saved her from any mortification she might have felt on sinking at once into the state of happy wifehood."
Etymology
From Middle English wifhode, wifhod, wifhede, from Old English wīfhād (“femininity; the female sex”), equivalent to wife + -hood.
More for "wifehood"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.