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widow
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A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died and who has not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjective for either sex is widowed. These terms are not applied to a divorcé(e) following the death of an ex-spouse.
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died and who has not remarried, while a widower is the male equivalent. These terms matter because they distinguish people whose marriages have ended through death from those who have divorced or are still married.
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~14 min read
Article
14 sectionsContents
- Effects on health
- Mourning practices
- Economic position
- Abuse
- Sexual violence
- Ritual killing
- Witch hunts
- Forced remarriage
- Banned remarriage
- Theft
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died and who has not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjective for either sex is widowed. These terms are not applied to a divorcé(e) following the death of an ex-spouse.
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood. The term widowhood can be used for either sex, at least according to some dictionaries, but the word widowerhood is also listed in some dictionaries. An archaic term for a widow is "relict", literally "someone left over"; this word can sometimes be found on older gravestones. Occasionally, the word viduity is used.