wive

English

Etymology

From Middle English wiven, iwiven, from Old English wīfian, wīfiġan, ġewīfian (“to take a wife; marry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waɪv/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪv

Verb

wive (third-person singular simple present wives, present participle wiving, simple past and past participle wived)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To marry (a woman).
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.

2. (transitive) To provide (someone) with a wife.

Synonyms

• wife (slang, African-American Vernacular)

Anagrams

• view

Middle English

Etymology 1

A version of wyf with the voiced consonant analogically brought in from the plural forms.

Noun

wive

1. Alternative form of wyf

Etymology 2

From Old English wīfa, nominative plural of wīf.

Noun

wive

1. Alternative form of wyve (“wives”)