The Wordsmith Dictionary

Wid "ow, n. Etym: [OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe;akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuw, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhava; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. Vidual. ]

Defn: A woman who has lost her husband by death, and has not married again; one living bereaved of a husband. "A poor widow. " Chaucer. Grass widow. See under Grass. -- Widow bewitched, a woman separated from her husband; a grass widow. [Colloq. ] Widow-in-mourning (Zoöl.), the macavahu. -- Widow monkey (Zoöl.), a small South American monkey (Callithrix lugens ); -- so called on account of its color, which is black except the dull whitish arms, neck, and face, and a ring of pure white around the face. -- Widow's chamber (Eng. Law ), in London, the apparel and furniture of the bedchamber of the widow of a freeman, to which she was formerly entitled.

WIDOW

WIDOW Wid "ow, a.

Defn: Widowed. "A widow woman. " 1 Kings xvii. 9. "This widow lady. " Shak.

WIDOW

Wid "ow, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Widowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Widowing. ]

1. To reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle. Though in thus city he Hath widowed and unchilded many a one, Which to this hour bewail the injury. Shak.

2. To deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to bereave. The widowed isle, in mourning, Dries up her tears. Dryden. Tress of their shriveled fruits Are widowed, dreary storms o'er all prevail. J. Philips. Mourn, widowed queen; forgotten Sion, mourn. Heber.

3. To endow with a widow's right. [R.] Shak.

4. To become, or survive as, the widow of. [Obs. ] Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and widow them all. Shak.

WIDOW BIRD

WIDOW BIRD Wid "ow bird `. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Whidan bird.

WIDOWER

WIDOWER Wid "ow *er, n.

Defn: A man who has lost his wife by death, and has not married again. Shak.

WIDOWERHOOD

WIDOWERHOOD Wid "ow *er *hood, n.

Defn: The state of being a widower.

WIDOWHOOD

WIDOWHOOD Wid "ow *hood, n.

1. The state of being a widow; the time during which a woman is widow; also, rarely, the state of being a widower. Johnson clung to her memory during a widowhood of more than thirty years. Leslie Stephen.

2. Estate settled on a widow. [Obs. ] "I 'll assure her of her widowhood. .. in all my lands." Shak.

WIDOW-HUNTER

WIDOW-HUNTER Wid "ow-hunt `er, n.

Defn: One who courts widows, seeking to marry one with a fortune. Addison.

WIDOWLY

WIDOWLY Wid "ow *ly, a.

Defn: Becoming or like a widow.

WIDOW-MAKER

WIDOW-MAKER Wid "ow-mak `er, n.

Defn: One who makes widows by destroying husbands. [R.] Shak.

WIDOW-WAIL

WIDOW-WAIL Wid "ow-wail `, n. (Bot. )

Defn: A low, narrowleaved evergreen shrub (Cneorum tricoccon ) found in Southern Europe.

New American Oxford Dictionary

widow

wid ow |ˈwidō ˈwɪdoʊ | ▶noun 1 a woman who has lost her husband by death and has not remarried. • [ with modifier ] humorous a woman whose husband is often away participating in a specified sport or activity: a golf widow. 2 Printing a last word or short last line of a paragraph falling at the top of a page or column and considered undesirable. ▶verb [ with obj. ] (usu. as adj. widowed ) make into a widow or widower: she had to care for her widowed mother. ORIGIN Old English widewe, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘be empty ’; compare with Sanskrit vidh ‘be destitute, ’ Latin viduus ‘bereft, widowed, ’ and Greek ēitheos ‘unmarried man. ’

widowbird

widow |bird |ˈwɪdəʊbəːd | ▶noun an African weaver bird, the male of which has mainly black plumage and typically a long tail used in leaping displays. ●Genus Euplectes, family Ploceidae: several species. • another term for whydah.

widower

wid ow er |ˈwidō -ər ˈwɪdoʊ (ə )r | ▶noun a man who has lost his wife by death and has not remarried.

widowhood

wid ow hood |ˈwidōˌho͝od ˈwɪdoʊˌhʊd | ▶noun the state or period of being a widow or widower.

widow-maker

wid ow-mak er ▶noun informal a thing with the potential to kill men. • a dead branch caught precariously high in a tree which may fall on a person below.

widow's cruse

widow's cruse ▶noun an apparently small supply that proves inexhaustible. ORIGIN with biblical allusion to 1 Kings 17:10 –16.

widow's mite

wid ow's mite ▶noun a small monetary contribution from someone who is poor. ORIGIN with biblical allusion to Mark 12:43.

widow's peak

wid ow's peak ▶noun a V-shaped growth of hair toward the center of the forehead, esp. one left by a receding hairline in a man. ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: so called because it was formerly believed to be a predictor of widowhood for a woman.

widow's walk

wid ow's walk ▶noun a railed or balustraded platform built on a roof, originally in early New England houses, typically for providing an unimpeded view of the sea. ORIGIN 1930s: with reference to its use as a viewpoint for the hoped-for return of a seafaring husband.

widow's weeds

wid ow's weeds ▶plural noun black clothes worn by a widow in mourning. ORIGIN early 18th cent. (earlier as mourning weeds ): weeds (obsolete in the general sense ‘garments ’) is from Old English wǣd (e ), of Germanic origin.

Oxford Dictionary

widow

widow |ˈwɪdəʊ | ▶noun 1 a woman who has lost her husband by death and has not married again. • [ with modifier ] humorous a woman whose husband is often away participating in a specified sport or activity: my wife has been a golf widow for the last 30 years. 2 Printing a last word or short last line of a paragraph falling at the top of a page or column and considered undesirable. 3 a widowbird. ▶verb (be widowed ) become a widow or widower: he was recently widowed | (as adj. widowed ) : her widowed mother. ORIGIN Old English widewe, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘be empty ’; compare with Sanskrit vidh ‘be destitute ’, Latin viduus ‘bereft, widowed ’, and Greek ēitheos ‘unmarried man ’.

widowbird

widower

wid |ow ¦er |ˈwɪdəʊə | ▶noun a man who has lost his wife by death and has not married again.

widowhood

widow |hood |ˈwɪdəʊhʊd | ▶noun [ mass noun ] the state or period of being a widow or widower.

widow-maker

widow-maker ▶noun informal a dangerous machine or piece of equipment. • N. Amer. a dead branch caught precariously high in a tree which may fall on a person below.

widow's cruse

widow's cruse ▶noun an apparently small supply that proves inexhaustible. ORIGIN with biblical allusion to 1 Kings 17:10 –16.

widow's mite

widow's mite ▶noun a small monetary contribution from someone who is poor. ORIGIN with biblical allusion to Mark 12:43.

widow's peak

widow's peak ▶noun a V-shaped growth of hair towards the centre of the forehead.

widow's walk

widow's walk ▶noun N. Amer. a railed platform built on a roof, originally in early New England houses, for providing an unimpeded sea view. ORIGIN 1930s: with reference to its use as a viewpoint for the return of a seafaring husband.

widow's weeds

widow's weeds ▶plural noun black clothes worn by a widow in mourning. ORIGIN early 18th cent. (earlier as mourning weeds ): weeds (obsolete in the general sense ‘garments ’) is from Old English wǣd (e ), of Germanic origin.

Sanseido Wisdom Dictionary

widow

wid ow /wɪ́doʊ /〖語源は「切り離された女」〗名詞複～s /-z /C 1 未亡人 , 寡婦 (!男性形はwidower ) .2 ｟おどけて｠〖修飾語を伴って〗…ウィドー〘夫が趣味スポーツなどに熱中して家に置き去りにされる妻〙▸ a football [golf ] widow サッカー [ゴルフ ]ウィドー 3 〘トランプ〙後家札〘場に配った余分の札〙.動詞他動詞 1 〖通例 be ～ed 〗未亡人 [男やもめ ]になる .2 «…を » …から奪う «of » .～̀ 's m í te 〖the ～〗貧者の一灯 ; 未亡人のわずかな献金 .～̀ 's p é ak 額のV字状の髪の生え際〘これがあると夫に早く死別されるとされた〙.

widowed

w í d owed 形容詞未亡人の ; 男やもめの .

widower

w í d ow er 名詞 C 男やもめ (!女性形はwidow ) .

widowhood

w í dow h ò od /-hʊ̀d /名詞 U 未亡人 [男やもめ ]の状態 [期間 ]; やもめ暮らし .