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huswife. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
huswife, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
huswife in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
huswife you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Noun
huswife (plural huswifes or huswives)
- Obsolete form of housewife.
c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 256:Then hadſt thou had an excellent head of haire. […] Excellent, it hangs like flax on a diſtaffe: & I hope to ſee a huſwife take thee between her legs, & ſpin it off.
1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Symptomes of Iealousie, Fear, Sorrow, Suspition, Strange Actions, Gestures, Outrages, Locking Up, Oathes, Trials, Lawes, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. , 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 3, member 2, subsection 1, page 610:He cals her on a ſudden, all to naught; ſhe is a ſtrumpet, a light huswife, a bitch, an arrant whore.
1811, [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Sense and Sensibility , volume III, London: C Roworth, , and published by T Egerton, , →OCLC, page 46:And for my part, I was all in a fright for fear your sister should ask us for the huswifes she had gave us a day or two before; but however, nothing was said about them, and I took care to keep mine out of sight.
Usage notes
- In the 18th and early 19th centuries, this spelling and the corresponding pronunciations /ˈhʌzwaɪf/, /ˈhʌz(w)ɪf/ increasingly became restricted to the "hussy" and "sewing bag" senses of housewife. Both hussy and the pronunciation /ˈhʌzɪf/ for "sewing bag" are modern survivals of this.
Verb
huswife (third-person singular simple present huswifes, present participle huswifing, simple past and past participle huswifed)
- Obsolete form of housewive.
Middle English
Noun
huswife
- Alternative form of houswyf