Meanings
-
1
noun
A woman who stays at home to manage the house and care for her family rather than working for pay.
She was a full-time housewife while her children were young.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
1
noun
· a woman who stays at home...
homemakerlady of the housewoman of the house
Word family
Forms
housewifelyhousewives
Derived forms
boywifehousewifedomhousewifehoodhousewifeishhousewifelikehousewifelyhousewiferyhousewifeshiphousewifeyhousewifishhousewifizationnonhousewife
Etymology
From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house + wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long distinguished from and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with West Frisian húswiif, Dutch huiswijf, German Low German Huuswief, German Hausweib.
View etymology graph ->