wifely
/ˈwaɪf.li/ adjective
Forms wifelier wifeliest wively
- adjective Of, befitting, pertaining to, or characteristic of a wife or wives.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English wifly, wyfly, from Old English wīflīc (“womanly, wifely”), from Proto-Germanic *wībalīkaz (“wifely”). Cognate with Scots wifely (“womanly, wifely”), Dutch wijflijk, wijfelijk, German weiblich (“feminine, female”). By surface analysis, wife + -ly.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [AS. wiflic.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wifely”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details