Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

side-wife

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.04 in modern English

Syllables: side-wife
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A woman who (among others) has the potential to become one's wife, or who is fulfilling the role of one's wife in addition to one's actual wife; a concubine

Example Sentences

"If, however, his wife gave him a handmaiden and he had children by her, he was then barred from taking a side-wife (as a concubine was called)."
"She was also a 'sidewife'. Nobody talks about it because she is a rich entrepreneur."
"A gilly (or sheevin) is a side-wife taken by a man who already has a legal wife."
"For one who has no husband, as well as for one who acts as a side-wife for a person, who has formed a household, or who lives elsewhere and is not enumerated together [with a husband or children on a population register], […]"

Etymology

From side + wife. Compare Dutch bijwijf (“concubine”).

Inflected Forms

side-wives (plural) side wife (alternative) sidewife (alternative)

Questions

What does side-wife mean?: A woman who (among others) has the potential to become one's wife, or who is fulfilling the role of one's wife in addition to one's actual wife; a concubine
Where does side-wife come from?: From side + wife. Compare Dutch bijwijf (“concubine”).

How to pronounce side-wife

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