housewife
noun
- married family member whose main occupation is running or managing the family's home
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/ / /ˈhʌzwaɪf/ / /ˈhʌz(w)ɪf/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house + wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long distinguished from and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with West Frisian húswiif, Dutch huiswijf, German Low German Huuswief, German Hausweib.
- 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.
“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”
- The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.
- A little case or bag for materials used in sewing, and for other articles of female work.
“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 […].’”
“Woffington's housewife, made by herself, homely to the eye, but holds everything in the world”
- A worthless woman; a hussy.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house + wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long distinguished from and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with West Frisian húswiif, Dutch huiswijf, German Low German Huuswief, German Hausweib.
- Alternative form of housewive.
“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.”