Where does “wifehood” come from?
Wifehood comes from Middle English wifhode, from Old English wīfhād, a compound of wīf (woman) and hād (state or condition).
wifehood (English): The quality or state of being a wife; The...
Definitions
- The quality or state of being a wife; The...
Ancestry of “wifehood”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -hood | A substantive suffix denoting a condition or... |
| 2 | Middle English | -hede | Affixed to nouns and adjectives to form nouns... |
| 3 | Old English | -hād | -hood |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -haidu | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | haiduz | manner, way; personality, character; appearance |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kayt- | — |