Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗verb
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryTo marry (a woman).
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *wībą Proto-West Germanic *wīb Old English wīf Middle English wyf English wife Inherited from Middle English wyf, wif, from Old English wīf (“woman, wife”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīb, from Proto-Germanic *wībą (“woman; wife”). Cognates Germanic cognates include Scots wife (“wife; woman”), North Frisian wuf, wüf (“wife, woman”), Saterland Frisian Wieuw (“woman; wife; female”), West Frisian wiif (“wife; woman”), Cimbrian baibe, baip (“wife; woman”), Dutch wijf (“woman; female”), German Weib (“woman; wife; female”), German Low German Wiev (“woman; female”), Mòcheno baib (“woman”), Vilamovian bow (“wife; woman”), Yiddish ווײַב (vayb, “wife; woman”) Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish viv (“wife; woman”), Faroese vív (“wife; woman”), Icelandic víf (“wife; woman”). The further etymology is unknown, with a number of disputed suggestions. One suggestion connects Tocharian A/B kip/kwīpe (“genitals, female pudenda”), for a hypothetical Indo-European *gʰwíbʰ- (“pudenda”). Another suggestion connects Old English wǣfan (“wrap, clothe”), Old Norse vífa (“wrap, veil”) for a suggested original motive of "married woman wearing a scarf". Yet another suggestion connects Old High German weibōn (“move to and fro”), Old Norse veifa (“swing, throw”), for a motive of "one who is moving busily; housekeeper, maidservant" (cf. German Weibel (“manservant, usher”)).
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionwyfenm
- Inherited-form mentionwīfang · woman, wife
- Inherited-form mention*wībgmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*wībągem-pro · woman; wife
- Cognate mentionwifesco · wife; woman
- Cognate mentionwuffrr
- Cognate mentionWieuwstq · woman; wife; female
- Cognate mentionwiiffy · wife; woman
- Cognate mentionbaibecim
- Cognate mentionwijfnl · woman; female
- Cognate mentionWeibde · woman; wife; female
- Cognate mentionbaibmhn · woman
- Cognate mentionbowwym · wife; woman
- Cognate mentionווײַבyi · wife; woman
- Cognate mentionvívfo · wife; woman
- Cognate mentionvífis · wife; woman
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:wyf<id:woman>",
"id": "woman",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Germanic *wībą\nProto-West Germanic *wīb\nOld English wīf\nMiddle English wyf\nEnglish wife\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*wīb\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"wīf\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"wyf\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"wife\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"woman\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"wife\" id=\"English:_woman\">"
},
{
"name": "yesno",
"args": {
"1": "",
"2": "i",
"3": "I"
},
"expansion": "I"
},
{
"name": "glossary",
"args": {
"1": "Inherited"
},
"expansion": "Inherited"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "wyf",
"4": "",
"5": "",
"lit": "",
"pos": "",
"tr": "",
"ts": "",
"id": "",
"sc": "",
"g": "",
"g2": "",
"g3": "",
"nocat": "",
"sort": ""
},
"expansion": "Middle English wyf"
},
{
"name": "inh+",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "wyf"
},
"expansion": "Inherited from Middle English wyf"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "wīf",
"t": "woman, wife"
},
"expansion": "Old English wīf (“woman, wife”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*wīb"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *wīb"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*wībą",
"t": "woman; wife"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wībą (“woman; wife”)"
},
{
"name": "col-top",
"args": {
"1": "2",
"2": "cog"
},
"expansion": "Cognates"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "wife",
"t": "wife; woman"
},
"expansion": "Scots wife (“wife; woman”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "wuf"
},
"expansion": "North Frisian wuf"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "Wieuw",
"t": "woman; wife; female"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Wieuw (“woman; wife; female”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fy",
"2": "wiif",
"t": "wife; woman"
},
"expansion": "West Frisian wiif (“wife; woman”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "cim",
"2": "baibe"
},
"expansion": "Cimbrian baibe"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "wijf",
"t": "woman; female"
},
"expansion": "Dutch wijf (“woman; female”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Weib",
"t": "woman; wife; female"
},
"expansion": "German Weib (“woman; wife; female”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Wiev",
"t": "woman; female"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Wiev (“woman; female”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "mhn",
"2": "baib",
"t": "woman"
},
"expansion": "Mòcheno baib (“woman”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "wym",
"2": "bow",
"t": "wife; woman"
},
"expansion": "Vilamovian bow (“wife; woman”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "yi",
"2": "ווײַב",
"t": "wife; woman"
},
"expansion": "Yiddish ווײַב (vayb, “wife; woman”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da,nb,nn,sv",
"2": "viv",
"t": "wife; woman"
},
"expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish viv (“wife; woman”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fo",
"2": "vív",
"t": "wife; woman"
},
"expansion": "Faroese vív (“wife; woman”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "víf",
"t": "wife; woman"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic víf (“wife; woman”)"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":inh",
"3": "enm:wyf<id:woman>",
"id": "woman",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Germanic *wībą\nProto-West Germanic *wīb\nOld English wīf\nMiddle English wyf\nEnglish wife"
}
],
"links": [
[
"*wībą",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wībą#Proto-Germanic:_woman"
],
[
"*wīb",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/wīb#Proto-West_Germanic:_woman"
],
[
"wīf",
"wif#Old_English:_woman"
],
[
"wyf",
"wyf#Middle_English:_woman"
],
[
"wyf",
"wyf#Middle_English"
],
[
"wif",
"wif#Middle_English"
],
[
"wīf",
"wif#Old_English"
],
[
"*wīb",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/wīb"
],
[
"*wībą",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wībą"
],
[
"wife",
"wife#Scots"
],
[
"wuf",
"wuf#North_Frisian"
],
[
"wüf",
"wüf#North_Frisian"
],
[
"Wieuw",
"Wieuw#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"wiif",
"wiif#West_Frisian"
],
[
"baibe",
"baibe#Cimbrian"
],
[
"baip",
"baip#Cimbrian"
],
[
"wijf",
"wijf#Dutch"
],
[
"Weib",
"Weib#German"
],
[
"Wiev",
"Wiev#Low_German"
],
[
"baib",
"baib#Mòcheno"
],
[
"bow",
"bow#Vilamovian"
],
[
"ווײַב",
"ווײַב#Yiddish"
],
[
"Danish",
"viv#Danish"
],
[
"Norwegian Bokmål",
"viv#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"Norwegian Nynorsk",
"viv#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
],
[
"viv",
"viv#Swedish"
],
[
"vív",
"vív#Faroese"
],
[
"víf",
"víf#Icelandic"
],
[
"kip",
"kip#Tocharian_A"
],
[
"kwīpe",
"kwīpe#Tocharian_B"
],
[
"*gʰwíbʰ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/gʰwíbʰ-"
],
[
"wǣfan",
"wæfan#Old_English"
],
[
"vífa",
"vífa#Old_Norse"
],
[
"weibōn",
"weibon#Old_High_German"
],
[
"veifa",
"veifa#Old_Norse"
],
[
"Weibel",
"Weibel#German"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"To marry (a woman)."
],
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"recordId": "dec5e6f79e6e7cc880061cd7fcff8d89edd1893af5ccb3da56f1a5a70f633736",
"rawRecordSha256": "8fc08f1cc3453203fdb7b4e207660d44d689065d88d7a4195b0baed9b6e34fa9",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 28882
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
"templates": 0,
"links": 0,
"references": 0,
"descendants": 0,
"lexicalRecords": 0,
"lexicalSenses": 0,
"glosses": 0
}
}