housewife

See also: house-wife

English

Alternative forms

• house-wife (archaic)
• houswife, huswife (both obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house +‎ wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long-distinguished with and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with German Hausweib.

Pronunciation

Person

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (obsolete, dialectal, poetic) IPA^(key): /ˈhʌzwaɪf/, /ˈhʌz(w)ɪf/

Bag

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌzɪf/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

housewife (plural housewives or housewifes) (see notes below about plurals)

1. (plural "housewives") A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.

   Synonym: (archaic) henhussy

   Hypernym: homemaker

   Coordinate term: househusband

   • 2000, Uli Kusch, "Mr. Torture", Helloween, The Dark Ride

     Mr Torture sells pain / To the housewives in Spain / He knows just what they crave / Mr Torture

2. (plural "housewives") The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.
3. (plural "housewifes") A little case or bag for materials used in sewing, and for other articles of female work.

   Synonym: hussy

   • 1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 246:

     It was a housewife, containing needles, a bodkin, and thread; ‘and, do you know,’ added he, ‘it was the most useful thing she could have given me, for it lasted all the time I was at Rome to mend my clothes with […] .’

   • 1852, Tom Taylor, Charles Reade, Masks and Faces, act II:

     Woffington's housewife, made by herself, homely to the eye, but holds everything in the world

   • 1997, David L. Phillips, A Soldier's Story, MetroBooks, →ISBN, page 61:

     The "soldier's housewife" was a small sewing kit that was carried to make timely repairs to clothing and equipment.

4. (plural "housewives", obsolete) A worthless woman; a hussy.

Derived terms

• housewifedom
• housewifeish
• housewifelike
• housewifely
• housewifery
• housewife's eczema
• housewifeship
• housewifey
• housewifization
• sailor's housewife
• you can't turn a hoe into a housewife

 

Translations

female head of household

• Albanian: amvisë (sq) f
• Arabic: رَبَّة مَنْزِل f (rabbat manzil), رَبَّة بَيْت f (rabbat bayt), رَبَّة أُسْرَة f (rabbat ʔusra)
• Armenian: տնային տնտեսուհի (tnayin tntesuhi), տանտիկին (hy) (tantikin)
• Azerbaijani: evdar qadın
• Bashkir: хужабикә (xujabikə)
• Basque: etxekoandre (eu)
• Belarusian: ха́тняя гаспады́ня f (xátnjaja haspadýnja)
• Bengali: গৃহবধূ (bn) (grihobodhu), গৃহিণী (bn) (grihini), ঘরণী (ghoroni)
• Bulgarian: домаки́ня (bg) f (domakínja), къ́щница f (kǎ́štnica)
• Burmese: အိမ်ရှင်မ (my) (imhrangma.)
• Catalan: mestressa de casa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 主婦／主妇 (zh) (zhǔfù), 家庭婦女／家庭妇女 (jiātíng fùnǚ), 家庭主婦／家庭主妇 (zh) (jiātíng zhǔfù)

• Chukchi: гыпиԓьын (gypiḷʹyn)
• Crimean Tatar: ev bikesi
• Czech: hospodyňka f, žena v domácnosti f
• Danish: husmor c
• Dutch: huisvrouw (nl) f
• Esperanto: domestrino
• Estonian: koduperenaine
• Faroese: matmóðir f, húsfrú f, húsfrúgv f
• Finnish: emäntä (fi), kotirouva (fi), perheenemäntä (fi), kotiäiti (fi)
• French: maîtresse de maison (fr) f, femme au foyer (fr) f, mère au foyer f, garce (fr) f (familiar)
• Georgian: დიასახლისი (diasaxlisi)
• German: Hausfrau (de) f

  Alemannic German: Huusfrau f

• Greek: νοικοκυρά (el) f (noikokyrá), οικοδέσποινα (el) f (oikodéspoina)
• Hebrew: עֲקֶרֶת בַּיִת (he) f (akéret báyit)
• Hindi: गृहिणी (hi) f (gŕhiṇī), घरनी (hi) f (gharnī), घरवाली (hi) f (gharvālī)
• Hungarian: háziasszony (hu)
• Icelandic: húsfrú (is) f, húsmóðir (is) f
• Indonesian: ibu rumah tangga (id), suri rumah
• Irish: bean tí f
• Italian: massaia (it) f, donna di casa f, padrona di casa f, casalinga (it) f
• Japanese: 主婦 (ja) (しゅふ, shufu)
• Kazakh: үй шаруасындағы әйел (üi şaruasyndağy äiel)
• Khmer: ស្រីមេផ្ទះ (srəy mei phtĕəh), គេហសាមិនី (keihaʼsaaminii)
• Korean: 주부(主婦) (ko) (jubu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کابان (kaban)

  Northern Kurdish: bermalî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: үй ээси (üy eesi), үй кожойкеси (üy kojoykesi)
• Lao: ແມ່ເຮືອນ (mǣ hư̄an)
• Latin: domiseda
• Latvian: mājsaimniece f
• Lithuanian: šeimininkė f
• Macedonian: дома́ќинка f (domáḱinka)
• Malay: suri rumah
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: гэрийн эзэгтэй (geriin ezegtej)

• Norman: femme dé mênage f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: husmor (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: husmor f

• Pashto: ماتو f (mātu)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: خانُمِ خانِه (xânom-e xâne), زَنِ خانِه‌دار (zan-e xâne-dâr), خانِه‌دار (xâne-dâr) (any gender), کَدْبانو (fa) (kadbânu)

• Plautdietsch: Husfru f
• Polish: gospodyni domowa (pl) f, pani domu f
• Portuguese: dona-de-casa (pt) f, dona de casa (pt) f
• Romanian: gospodină (ro) f, casnică (ro) f
• Russian: домохозя́йка (ru) f (domoxozjájka)
• Scottish Gaelic: bean-taighe f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дома̀ћица f, ку̏ћаница f

  Roman: domàćica (sh) f, kȕćanica (sh) f

• Slovak: gazdiná f
• Slovene: gospodinja (sl) f
• Spanish: ama de casa f
• Swedish: husfru (sv) c, husmor (sv) c
• Tagalog: maybahay
• Tajik: соҳибхоназан (sohibxonazan), соҳибаи хона (sohiba-yi xona), зани хонадор (zan-i xonador)
• Tatar: хуҗабикә (xucabikä)
• Thai: แม่บ้าน (mɛ̂ɛ-bâan)
• Turkish: ev kadını (tr), ev hanımı (tr), karı (tr)
• Turkmen: öý hojalykçy, öy bikesi, öý hojalykçy aýal (tk)
• Ukrainian: домогоспода́рка f (domohospodárka)
• Urdu: گَھر والی f (ghar vālī)
• Uyghur: ئائىلە ئايالى (a'ile ayali), ئايال خوجايىن (ayal xojayin), خوجايىن ئايال (xojayin ayal)
• Uzbek: uy bekasi
• Vietnamese: bà nội trợ
• Volapük: domaläd
• Welsh: gwraig tŷ f, gwraig y tŷ f
• Yiddish: באַלעבאָסטע f (baleboste)

case for materials used in sewing

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: käsityölaukku
• French: trousse de couture f, boîte à ouvrage (fr) f
• Hungarian: varrókészlet (hu), varródoboz (hu)
• Icelandic: húsmóðir (is)
• Indonesian: kotak jahit
• Portuguese: caixa de costura f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} గృహిణి (te) (gr̥hiṇi)

Verb

housewife (third-person singular simple present housewifes, present participle housewifing, simple past and past participle housewifed)

1. Alternative form of housewive
   • 1983 December 10, Jolanta Benal, “The Second Revolution”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 21, page 14:

     Career opportunity […] is the one who never knocks — especially not on the doors of women, who are still hooking, housewifing and hairdressing for their livings.