widwe

Middle English

Alternative forms

• widowe, wydowe
• vidue, wudewa, wudewe (Early Middle English); weddow, weddowe, wydow (Late Middle English)
• wedewe, wedue, widue, wodewe (Kent, East Anglia, East Saxon)
• vidowe, wedew, wedwe, widew, widewe, widuwe, wydewe, wydue (especially Southern)
• wedo, wedow, wedowe, widu, wydo, widoy (Northern, North Midland); vedo, vedow (Early Scots)

Etymology

From Old English widuwe f, widuwa m, from Proto-West Germanic *widuwā, from Proto-Germanic *widuwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwidwə/, /ˈwidɔu̯(ə)/
• IPA^(key): /ˈwiduː/, (with open-syllable lengthening) /ˈweːduː/ (especially Northern)
• IPA^(key): /ˈwidiu̯(ə)/ (especially Kent, Southern, South Midland)

Noun

widwe (plural widwes or (Southern or West Midland) widewen)

1. A widow or widower (person whose spouse has died and hasn't remarried)
   • 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “The Knẏghtes Tale”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 16, verso, lines 1169-1171:

     A man moot nedes loue / maugree hıs heed / He maẏ nat fleen it / thogh he sholde be deed / Al be she maẏde / wẏdwe / oꝛ ellıs wẏf […]

     A man must necessarily love, in spite of all he can do. / He can not flee [from] it, though he should be dead, / Whether she's a maiden, widow, or otherwise a wife […]

   1. A widowed woman who commits to living a chaste and devout life.
2. A person separated from their spouse.
3. (Christianity, figuratively) A person separated from God.
4. (figuratively) A building or property separated from its owner.

Usage notes

• Used of men and women. The term widwere (modern widower) appeared in the 14th century for men who had lost their wives.

Derived terms

• widwehede
• widwere

Descendants

• English: widow
• Middle Scots: wedo, wedow, weidow
  • Scots: weedae, weedow

References

• “widwe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 23 August 2019.