housewife

See also: house-wife

English

Alternative forms

• house-wife (archaic)
• houswife, huswife (both obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house +‎ wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long-distinguished with and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with German Hausweib.

Pronunciation

Person

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (obsolete, dialectal, poetic) IPA^(key): /ˈhʌzwaɪf/, /ˈhʌz(w)ɪf/

Bag

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌzɪf/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

housewife (plural housewives or housewifes) (see notes below about plurals)

1. (plural "housewives") A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.

   Synonym: (archaic) henhussy

   Hypernym: homemaker

   Coordinate term: househusband

   • 2000, Uli Kusch, "Mr. Torture", Helloween, The Dark Ride

     Mr Torture sells pain / To the housewives in Spain / He knows just what they crave / Mr Torture

2. (plural "housewives") The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.
3. (plural "housewifes") A little case or bag for materials used in sewing, and for other articles of female work.

   Synonym: hussy

   • 1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 246:

     It was a housewife, containing needles, a bodkin, and thread; ‘and, do you know,’ added he, ‘it was the most useful thing she could have given me, for it lasted all the time I was at Rome to mend my clothes with […] .’

   • 1852, Tom Taylor, Charles Reade, Masks and Faces, act II:

     Woffington's housewife, made by herself, homely to the eye, but holds everything in the world

   • 1997, David L. Phillips, A Soldier's Story, MetroBooks, →ISBN, page 61:

     The "soldier's housewife" was a small sewing kit that was carried to make timely repairs to clothing and equipment.

4. (plural "housewives", obsolete) A worthless woman; a hussy.

Derived terms

• housewifedom
• housewifeish
• housewifelike
• housewifely
• housewifery
• housewife's eczema
• housewifeship
• housewifey
• housewifization
• sailor's housewife
• you can't turn a hoe into a housewife

 

Translations

female head of household

Albanian: amvisë (sq) f Arabic: رَبَّة مَنْزِل f (rabbat manzil), رَبَّة بَيْت f (rabbat bayt), رَبَّة أُسْرَة f (rabbat ʔusra) Armenian: տնային տնտեսուհի (tnayin tntesuhi), տանտիկին (hy) (tantikin) Azerbaijani: evdar qadın Bashkir: хужабикә (xujabikə) Basque: etxekoandre (eu) Belarusian: ха́тняя гаспады́ня f (xátnjaja haspadýnja) Bengali: গৃহবধূ (bn) (grihobodhu), গৃহিণী (bn) (grihini), ঘরণী (ghoroni) Bulgarian: домаки́ня (bg) f (domakínja), къ́щница f (kǎ́štnica) Burmese: အိမ်ရှင်မ (my) (imhrangma.) Catalan: mestressa de casa (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 主婦／主妇 (zh) (zhǔfù), 家庭婦女／家庭妇女 (jiātíng fùnǚ), 家庭主婦／家庭主妇 (zh) (jiātíng zhǔfù) Chukchi: гыпиԓьын (gypiḷʹyn) Crimean Tatar: ev bikesi Czech: hospodyňka f, žena v domácnosti f Danish: husmor c Dutch: huisvrouw (nl) f Esperanto: domestrino Estonian: koduperenaine Faroese: matmóðir f, húsfrú f, húsfrúgv f Finnish: emäntä (fi), kotirouva (fi), perheenemäntä (fi), kotiäiti (fi) French: maîtresse de maison (fr) f, femme au foyer (fr) f, mère au foyer f, garce (fr) f (familiar) Georgian: დიასახლისი (diasaxlisi) German: Hausfrau (de) f Alemannic German: Huusfrau f Greek: νοικοκυρά (el) f (noikokyrá), οικοδέσποινα (el) f (oikodéspoina) Hebrew: עֲקֶרֶת בַּיִת (he) f (akéret báyit) Hindi: गृहिणी (hi) f (gŕhiṇī), घरनी (hi) f (gharnī), घरवाली (hi) f (gharvālī) Hungarian: háziasszony (hu) Icelandic: húsfrú (is) f, húsmóðir (is) f Indonesian: ibu rumah tangga (id), suri rumah Irish: bean tí f Italian: massaia (it) f, donna di casa f, padrona di casa f, casalinga (it) f Japanese: 主婦 (ja) (しゅふ, shufu) Kazakh: үй шаруасындағы әйел (üi şaruasyndağy äiel) Khmer: ស្រីមេផ្ទះ (srəy mei phtĕəh), គេហសាមិនី (keihaʼsaaminii) Korean: 주부(主婦) (ko) (jubu) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: کابان (kaban) Northern Kurdish: bermalî (ku) Kyrgyz: үй ээси (üy eesi), үй кожойкеси (üy kojoykesi) Lao: ແມ່ເຮືອນ (mǣ hư̄an) Latin: domiseda Latvian: mājsaimniece f Lithuanian: šeimininkė f Macedonian: дома́ќинка f (domáḱinka) Malay: suri rumah Mongolian: Cyrillic: гэрийн эзэгтэй (geriin ezegtej) Norman: femme dé mênage f Norwegian: Bokmål: husmor (no) m or f Nynorsk: husmor f Pashto: ماتو f (mātu) Persian: Iranian Persian: خانُمِ خانِه (xânom-e xâne), زَنِ خانِه‌دار (zan-e xâne-dâr), خانِه‌دار (xâne-dâr) (any gender), کَدْبانو (fa) (kadbânu) Plautdietsch: Husfru f Polish: gospodyni domowa (pl) f, pani domu f Portuguese: dona-de-casa (pt) f, dona de casa (pt) f Romanian: gospodină (ro) f, casnică (ro) f Russian: домохозя́йка (ru) f (domoxozjájka) Scottish Gaelic: bean-taighe f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: дома̀ћица f, ку̏ћаница f Roman: domàćica (sh) f, kȕćanica (sh) f Slovak: gazdiná f Slovene: gospodinja (sl) f Spanish: ama de casa f Swedish: husfru (sv) c, husmor (sv) c Tagalog: maybahay Tajik: соҳибхоназан (sohibxonazan), соҳибаи хона (sohiba-yi xona), зани хонадор (zan-i xonador) Tatar: хуҗабикә (xucabikä) Thai: แม่บ้าน (mɛ̂ɛ-bâan) Turkish: ev kadını (tr), ev hanımı (tr), karı (tr) Turkmen: öý hojalykçy, öy bikesi, öý hojalykçy aýal (tk) Ukrainian: домогоспода́рка f (domohospodárka) Urdu: گَھر والی f (ghar vālī) Uyghur: ئائىلە ئايالى (a'ile ayali), ئايال خوجايىن (ayal xojayin), خوجايىن ئايال (xojayin ayal) Uzbek: uy bekasi Vietnamese: bà nội trợ Volapük: domaläd Welsh: gwraig tŷ f, gwraig y tŷ f Yiddish: באַלעבאָסטע f (baleboste)

case for materials used in sewing

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: käsityölaukku French: trousse de couture f, boîte à ouvrage (fr) f Hungarian: varrókészlet (hu), varródoboz (hu) Icelandic: húsmóðir (is) Indonesian: kotak jahit Portuguese: caixa de costura f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Telugu: (please verify) గృహిణి (te) (gr̥hiṇi)

Verb

housewife (third-person singular simple present housewifes, present participle housewifing, simple past and past participle housewifed)

1. Alternative form of housewive
   • 1983 December 10, Jolanta Benal, “The Second Revolution”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 21, page 14:

     Career opportunity […] is the one who never knocks — especially not on the doors of women, who are still hooking, housewifing and hairdressing for their livings.