# widow
## English
### Etymology

* PIE word
* *dwóh₁
From Middle English widwe, from Old English widuwe, from Proto-West Germanic *widuwā, from Proto-Germanic *widuwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂, possibly from *h₁weydʰh₁-, *widʰ- (“to separate, split, cleave, divide”), whence also wood from Old English widu, wudu.
Cognates include German Witwe, Dutch weduwe, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍅𐍉 (widuwō), Old Irish fedb, Latin vidua, Old Church Slavonic въдова (vŭdova), Sanskrit विधवा (vidhavā) and Persian بیوه (bive, bêva), Middle Persian wēwag, Avestan viðavā- "widow" .

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈwɪd.əʊ/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈwɪd.oʊ/
** Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪdəʊ
* Hyphenation: wid‧ow

### Noun

widow (plural widows)
* A person whose spouse is absent:
** A person who has lost a spouse and not remarried:
*** A woman whose spouse (traditionally husband) has died (and who has not remarried); a woman in relation to her late spouse; feminine of widower.
*** (uncommon) Any person whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried).
**** 2016 June 23, Traciy Reyes, “‘The Wedding March’: Hallmark Movie — June Bride Unwittingly Hires Wedding Singer Who Is Her Ex, Starring Josie Bissett, Jack Wagner”, in The Inquisitr News:Now that he is a widow, he tries to win Olivia back through the songs and the music that brought them together all those years ago, leaving Olivia torn between moving forward with Josh or falling into the arms of the man she truly loves.
** (by extension, informal, often humorous or sarcastic, in combination) A woman whose husband is often away pursuing a hobby, career, etc.
    My aunt is a football widow in the fall and a basketball widow in the winter and early spring.
*** 1988 November 27, Emily Parry, “For a Bowling Widow, a Split Isn't Just Two Lonely Pins”, in New York Times:I had been feeling like a bowling-alley widow, but knew he loved the game, so I suggested we join a mixed league.
* (card games) An additional hand of cards dealt face down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder.
* (typography) A single line of type that ends a paragraph but is separated from it by being carried over to the next page or column.
    Antonym: orphan
    Hyponym: runt
* Any venomous spider of the genus Latrodectus (called "widows" because of the practice of sexual cannibalism observed among many of these species).

#### Synonyms

* (woman whose spouse has died): widowess

#### Derived terms

* black widow
* chuck-will's-widow
* Dutch widow
* false widow
* golf widow
* grass widow
* half-widow
* hempen widow
* hemp-widow
* merry widow
* military widow
* trans widow
* war widow
* widow bewitched
* widow bird
* widow cleansing
* widow foreclosure
* widow-hunter
* widow inheritance
* widow maker
* widow-maker
* widow monkey
* widow's mite
* widow-wail

#### Related terms

* vidual
* widowed
* widower
* widowhood

#### Translations

Abkhaz: аԥҳәысеиба (apḥʷəsejba)
Afar: gubuna
Afrikaans: weduwee
Aklanon: baeo
Albanian: ve (sq) f
Arabic: أَرْمَلَة f (ʔarmala)
Egyptian Arabic: أرملة f (ʔarmila)
Hijazi Arabic: أَرْمَلة f (ʔarmala)
Armenian: այրի (hy) (ayri)
Aromanian: veduã f, veduvã f
Asturian: viuda f
Azerbaijani: dul (az)
Balinese: balu, rangda
Bashkir: тол (tol), тол ҡатын (tol qatın)
Basque: alargun (eu)
Belarusian: удава́ f (udavá), ўдава́ f (ŭdavá)
Bengali: বিধবা (bn) (bidhoba)
Breton: intañvez (br) f
Bulgarian: вдови́ца f (vdovíca)
Burmese: မုဆိုးမ (my) (mu.hcui:ma.)
Catalan: vídua (ca) f
Central Melanau: jabul
Chechen: жеро (žero)
Cherokee: ᎤᏬᏑᎶᏨ (uwosulotsv)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 寡婦／寡妇 (zh) (guǎfù)
Chukchi: ӄликвъильын (qlikvʺilʹyn)
Czech: vdova (cs) f
Danish: enke (da) c
Dutch: weduwe (nl) f
Egyptian: (ẖꜣrt f)
Erzya: дова (dova)
Esperanto: vidvino (eo)
Estonian: lesk (et)
Ewe: ahosi
Faroese: einkja f
Finnish: leski (fi)
French: veuve (fr) f
Friulian: vedue f
Galician: viúva f
Georgian: ქვრივი (kvrivi)
German: Witwe (de) f
Gothic: 𐍅𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍅𐍉 f (widuwō)
Greek: χήρα (el) f (chíra)
Ancient: χήρα f (khḗra)
Gujarati: વિધવા f (vidhvā), રાંડીરાંડ f (rā̃ḍīrā̃ḍ), બેવા f (bevā)
Haitian Creole: vèv
Hebrew: אַלְמָנָה (he) f (almaná)
Higaonon: balo
Hindi: विधवा (hi) f (vidhvā), वीडो f (vīḍo), बेवा (hi) f (bevā), राँड़ (hi) f (rā̃ṛ)
Hungarian: özvegy (hu), özvegyasszony (hu)
Iban: balu
Icelandic: ekkja (is) f
Ido: vidvino (io)
Indonesian: janda (id),
Ingrian: leski, leskinain
Ingush: жеро (žero)
Iranun: balu
Irish: baintreach f
Middle Irish: baintrebthach f
Old Irish: fedb f
Istriot: viduva f
Italian: vedova (it) f
Japanese: 寡婦 (ja) (やもめ, yamome), 未亡人 (ja) (みぼうじん, mibōjin), 後家 (ja) (ごけ, goke), 空き家 (akiya) (slang, dated)
Javanese: randha (jv)
Kazakh: жесір әйел (jesır äiel), тұл әйел (tūl äiel), тұл жесір (tūl jesır)
Khmer: មេម៉ាយ (km) (mei maay), ម៉ាយ (maay), វិធវា (km) (vithĕəʼviə) (formal)
Korean: 홀어미 (ko) (horeomi), 과부(寡婦) (ko) (gwabu)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: bîjin (ku) f, jinebî (ku) f
Kyrgyz: жесир аял (jesir ayal)
Lao: ແມ່ໝ້າຍ (mǣ māi), ໝ້າຍ (māi)
Latin: vidua f
Latvian: atraitne f
Laz: შირა (şira)
Lithuanian: našlė f
Livonian: lešknai, atrāitanai
Macedonian: вдовица f (vdovica)
Malagasy: mpananotena (mg)
Malay: janda (ms), balu (ms)
Malayalam: വിധവ (ml) (vidhava)
Maltese: armla f
Maori: pouaru, takahore
Maranao: balo
Marathi: विद्वा ? (vidvā)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: бэлэвсэн эхнэр (belevsen exner)
Navajo: asdzání bahastiin daaztsánígíí
Norman: veuve f
Northern Sami: leaska
Norwegian:
Bokmål: enke (no) m or f
Nynorsk: enkje f
Occitan: veusa (oc) f
Odia: ନିସଙ୍ଗ ଧାଡ଼ି (nisaṅga dhāṛi)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: въдова f (vŭdova)
Glagolitic: ⰲⱏⰴⱁⰲⰰ f (vŭdova)
Old English: widuwe f
Old Javanese: raṇḍa, walu
Old Norse: (Eastern dialect) ænkia, (Western dialect) ekkia
Old Turkic: 𐱄𐰆𐰟 (tul)
Ossetian: идӕдз ус (idæʒ us)
Pali: vidhavā f
Pashto: کونډه f (kwǝ́nḍa), باربلېزه f (bārbelíza)
Persian: بیوه (fa) (bive)
Phoenician: 𐤀𐤋𐤌𐤕 f (ʾlmt)
Piedmontese: vidoa f
Plautdietsch: Wätfru f
Polish: wdowa (pl) f
Pontic Greek: χ̌έρα f (šéra)
Portuguese: viúva (pt) f
Quechua: ikma
Romanian: văduvă (ro) f
Russian: вдова́ (ru) f (vdová), вдови́ца (ru) f (vdovíca) (obsolete)
Saho: gubnä
Sanskrit: विधवा (sa) f (vidhavā)
Sardinian: fiuda f
Scots: weedae, weedae-wife
Scottish Gaelic: banntrach f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: у̀дова f, удо̀вица f
Roman: ùdova (sh) f, udòvica (sh) f
Sicilian: vìduva (scn) f, vìdua (scn) f
Sindhi: وڌوا
Slovak: vdova (sk) f
Slovene: vdova (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: hudowa f
Upper Sorbian: wudowa f
Southern Altai: тул (tul)
Spanish: viuda (es) f
Swahili: mjane (sw) class 1/2
Swedish: änka (sv) c
Tajik: бева (beva)
Talysh: vev, ویوه‌ژن (viva-žen)
Tamil: விதவை (ta) (vitavai)
Tarifit: tajjatš f
Tat: biyə
Tausug: balu
Thai: แม่ม่าย (mɛ̂ɛ-mâai), แม่หม้าย (mɛ̂ɛ-mâai), ม่าย (th) (mâai), หม้าย (th) (mâai)
Turkish: dul (tr)
Turkmen: dul aýal, dul zenan
Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎍𐎎𐎐𐎚 ? (ảlmnt /⁠ʾalmanatu⁠/)
Ukrainian: вдова́ (uk) f (vdová), удова́ f (udová), вдови́ця (uk) f (vdovýcja) (obsolete), удови́ця f (udovýcja) (obsolete)
Urdu: بیوہ f (bīva), ویڈو f (vīḍo)
Uzbek: tul (uz), beva (uz)
Venetan: védoa f
Vietnamese: quả phụ (vi) (寡婦)
Volapük: jiviudan (vo)
Votic: lehtši
Welsh: gweddw (cy) f
West Coast Bajau: baau, pituanun
West Frisian: widdo ?
Yámana: šupun-kipa
Yiddish: אַלמנה f (almone), אַלמאָנע f (almone)
Yup'ik: aipaineq :

### Verb

widow (third-person singular simple present widows, present participle widowing, simple past and past participle widowed)
* (transitive) To make a widow or widower of someone; to cause the death of the spouse of.
* (transitive, figurative) To strip of anything valued.
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto IX:Sleep, gentle winds, as he sleeps now, My friend, the brother of my love. My Arthur! whom I shall not see ⁠Till all my widow’d race be run; ⁠Dear as the mother to the son, More than my brothers are to me.
* (transitive, obsolete) To endow with a widow's right.
* (transitive, obsolete) To be widow to.