Table of Contents
Definition of Wife
(noun) A female partner in a marriage.
Examples of Wife
- Marge Simpson is the wife of Homer Simpson on The Simpsons.
- Michelle Obama is the wife of Barack Obama.
Wife Pronunciation
Syllabification: wife
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /wIEf/
- British English – /wIEf/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /waɪf/
- British English – /wʌɪf/
Usage Note
- Plural: wives
Related Quotation
- “Families of orientation, procreation, and cohabitation provide us with some of the most important roles we will assume in life. The nuclear family roles (such as parent, child, husband, wife, and sibling) combine with extended family roles (such as grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, and in-law) to form the kinship system” (Strong, Devault, and Cohen 2011:19).
Related Video
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “wife” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
Reference
Strong, Bryan, Christine DeVault, and Theodore F. Cohen. 2011. The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society. 11th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Cite the Definition of Wife
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “wife.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved January 16, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/wife/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
wife. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/wife/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “wife.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed January 16, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/wife/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“wife.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/wife/>.