fishwife

English

Etymology

From Middle English fysshewyfe; equivalent to fish +‎ wife (“(obsolete) woman”) (see also midwife).

Pronunciation

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Noun

fishwife (plural fishwives)

1. (archaic) A woman who sells or works with fish; a female fishmonger.
2. (derogatory) A vulgar, abusive or nagging woman with a loud, unpleasant voice.
3. (Geordie, derogatory) A person, especially a woman, with poor personal hygiene.
4. (LGBTQ, slang) The wife of a homosexual man.

Synonyms

• (woman who sells fish): fishmongeress (fishmongress), fishwoman, piscatrix (historical)
• (nagging woman): See Thesaurus:shrew

Hypernyms

• (woman who sells fish): fishmonger
• (wife of a homosexual man): beard

Coordinate terms

• (woman who sells fish): fishman

Derived terms

• fishwifely

Translations

a woman who sells or works with fish

• Aromanian: piscãroanji f
• Danish: fiskerkone c
• Dutch: visvrouw
• French: poissarde (fr) f, poissonnière (fr) f
• German: Fischhändlerin (de) f, Fischverkäuferin (de) f
• Manx: caillagh eeast f
• Norwegian: fiskerkone m or f
• Portuguese: peixeira (pt) f
• Romanian: pescăreasă (ro) f
• Scottish Gaelic: cailleach-èisg, ban-iasgair
• Spanish: pescadera (es) f
• Volapük: fitajitedan

a vulgar, abusive or nagging woman with a loud, unpleasant voice

• Dutch: viswijf (nl)
• French: poissarde (fr) f (cf. langage de poissarde)
• Polish: przekupka (pl) f

Scots

Etymology

fish +‎ wife

Noun

fishwife (plural fishwifes)

1. fishwife
2. (derogatory) woman of coarse behaviour, temperament and vocabulary