\[ **BT: [[marriage laws and customs]] | [[English language]]** ] --- # wife ## etymology > ‘The ultimate source of the word is obscure.’[^1] It might be related to the German *Weib*, but probably isn’t related to the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] *wefan* (=to weave).[^2] Consensus seems to attach the original meaning to ‘woman’ rather than ‘married woman’. This usage may still be seen in words like *fish-wife*.[^3] [^1]: ‘Wife’, *[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1999]]*, Millennium Edition, revised by Adrian Room (Cassell, 1999), p. 1269. [^2]: ‘Wife’, *[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1999]]*, p. 1269. [^3]: Peter Finch, ed., *[[Finch, The New Elizabethan Reference Dictionary, 1959|The New Elizabethan Reference Dictionary]]*, (London: George Newnes, \[1959]), s.v. ‘Wife’.