widower
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English widwer, equivalent to widow + -er.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editwidower (plural widowers)
- A man whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried); a man in relation to his late spouse; masculine of widow. [from 14th c.]
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XIII, page 20:
- Tears of the widower, when he sees
A late-lost form that sleep reveals,
And moves his doubtful arms, and feels
Her place is empty, fall like these; […]
- 1988 April 2, Lori Kenschaft, “Film on lovers of PWAs in works”, in Gay Community News, page 6:
- What happens to the lovers of people with AIDS? How do they experience the passage from lover to caregiver to "widower"?
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
edita man whose spouse has died and who has not remarried
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References
edit- James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Widower”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume X, Part 2 (V–Z), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 114, column 1.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms suffixed with -er (relational)
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English male equivalent nouns
- en:Death
- en:Male people