husband

hus·band  (hzbnd)

n.

1. A man joined to a woman in marriage; a male spouse.

2. Chiefly British A manager or steward, as of a household.

3. Archaic A prudent, thrifty manager.

tr.v. hus·band·ed, hus·band·ing, hus·bands

1. To use sparingly or economically; conserve: husband one's energy.

2. Archaic To find a husband for.

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[Middle English huseband, from Old English hsbnda, from Old Norse hsbndi : hs, house + bndi, bandi, householder, present participle of ba, to dwell; see bheu- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: The English word husband, even though it is a basic kinship term, is not a native English word. It comes ultimately from the Old Norse word hsbndi, meaning "master of a house," which was borrowed into Old English as hsbnda. The second element in hsbndi, bndi, means "a man who has land and stock" and comes from the Old Norse verb ba, meaning "to live, dwell, have a household." The master of the house was usually a spouse as well, of course, and it would seem that the main modern sense of husband arises from this overlap. When the Norsemen settled in Anglo-Saxon England, they would often take Anglo-Saxon women as their wives; it was then natural to refer to the husband using the Norse word for the concept, and to refer to the wife with her Anglo-Saxon (Old English) designation, wf, "woman, wife" (Modern English wife). Interestingly, Old English did have a feminine word related to Old Norse hsbndi that meant "mistress of a house," namely, hsbonde. Had this word survived into Modern English, it would have sounded identical to husbandsurely leading to ambiguities.

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husband

Noun

a woman's partner in marriage

Verb

to use (resources, finances, etc.) economically [Old English hūsbonda]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	husband - a married man; a woman's partner in marriage hubby, married man benedick, benedict - a newly married man (especially one who has long been a bachelor) cuckold - a man whose wife committed adultery family man - a man whose family is of major importance in his life house husband, househusband - a husband who keeps house while his wife earns the family income better half, married person, partner, spouse, mate - a person's partner in marriage uxoricide - a husband who murders his wife married woman, wife - a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
Verb	1.	husband - use cautiously and frugally; "I try to economize my spare time"; "conserve your energy for the ascent to the summit" economize, economise, conserve save, preserve - to keep up and reserve for personal or special use; "She saved the old family photographs in a drawer" retrench - tighten one's belt; use resources carefully

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husband

noun 1. partner, man (informal) spouse, hubby (informal) mate, old man (informal) bridegroom, significant other U.S. (informal) better half (humorous)

verb 2. conserve, budget, use sparingly, save, store, hoard, economize on, use economically, manage thriftily << OPPOSITE squander

Translations

husband [ˈhʌzbənd] n → marido

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husband [ˈhʌzbənd] n → mari m

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husband [ˈhʌzbənd] n → (Ehe)mann m

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husband [ˈhʌzbənd] n → marito