hus·band (h z b nd)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.
[Middle English huseband, from Old English h sb nda, from Old Norse h sb ndi : h s, house + b ndi, b andi, householder, present participle of b a, 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 h sb ndi, meaning "master of a house," which was borrowed into Old English as h sb nda. The second element in h sb ndi, b ndi, means "a man who has land and stock" and comes from the Old Norse verb b a, 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, w f, "woman, wife" (Modern English wife). Interestingly, Old English did have a feminine word related to Old Norse h sb ndi that meant "mistress of a house," namely, h sbonde. Had this word survived into Modern English, it would have sounded identical to husband surely leading to ambiguities. |
husband Noun a woman's partner in marriage Verb to use (resources, finances, etc.) economically [Old English hūsbonda]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | husband - a married man; a woman's partner in marriagebenedick, 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 | | Verb | 1. | husband - use cautiously and frugally; "I try to economize my spare time"; "conserve your energy for the ascent to the summit"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 |
husband
Translations husband [ˈhʌzbənd] n → marido
husband [ˈhʌzbənd] n → mari m
husband [ˈhʌzbənd] n → (Ehe)mann m
husband [ˈhʌzbənd] n → marito
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