widow, widower

widow, widower
The primary meaning of widow is that of a woman whose husband has died and who has not remarried. Widower is the male counterpart of widow. A "grass widow" is separated or divorced or lives apart from her husband. (The expression comes from the meaning of "at grass," that is,"roaming loose.") A "golf widow" ("tennis widow," "fishing widow") is a woman whose husband leaves her while he goes to play his favorite game."Widow woman" is an illiteracy.

Dictionary of problem words and expressions. . 1975.

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  • widow - widower — ◊ widow You say that a woman is a widow when her husband has died and she has not married again. I had been a widow for five years. When a man has died, you can refer to his wife as his widow. His savings had been left to his widow. ...Coretta… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Qualifying Widow/Widower — A federal tax filing status available to widows and widowers for two years after their spouse s death. In the year the spouse dies, the widow or widower can (but is not required to) still file as married filing jointly; he or she could then file… …   Investment dictionary

  • widower — noun Etymology: Middle English widewer, alteration of wedow widow, widower, from Old English wuduwa widower; akin to Old English wuduwe widow Date: 14th century a man who has lost his wife by death and usually has not remarried …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • widow — [OE] A widow is etymologically a woman who has been ‘separated’, left ‘solitary’. The word goes back ultimately to Indo European *widhewo, an adjective formed from the base *weidh ‘separate’ (source also of English divide and Sanskrit vidhu… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • widow — [OE] A widow is etymologically a woman who has been ‘separated’, left ‘solitary’. The word goes back ultimately to Indo European *widhewo, an adjective formed from the base *weidh ‘separate’ (source also of English divide and Sanskrit vidhu… …   Word origins

  • widower — See widow, widower …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • widower — wid|ow|er [ˈwıdəuə US douər] n [Date: 1300 1400; Origin: widow widower (11 19 centuries), from Old English wuduwa] a man whose wife has died and who has not married again …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • widow — See widow, widower …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • widower — mid 14c., extended from WIDOW (Cf. widow). The O.E. masc. form was widewa …   Etymology dictionary

  • widower — [wid′ō ər] n. [ME widewer, extended < wedow, widower < OE widewa, masc. of widewe, WIDOW] a man who has outlived the woman to whom he was married at the time of her death; esp., such a man who has not remarried widowerhood n …   English World dictionary

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