widower
English
Etymology
From Middle English widwer, equivalent to widow + -er.
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈwɪdoʊɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
widower (plural widowers)
- A man whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried); a man in relation to his late spouse; masculine of widow. [from 14th c.]
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XIII, page 20:
- Tears of the widower, when he sees
A late-lost form that sleep reveals,
And moves his doubtful arms, and feels
Her place is empty, fall like these; […]
- 1988 April 2, Lori Kenschaft, “Film on lovers of PWAs in works”, in Gay Community News, page 6:
- What happens to the lovers of people with AIDS? How do they experience the passage from lover to caregiver to "widower"?
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
a man whose spouse has died and who has not remarried
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References
- James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Widower”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes X, Part 2 (V–Z), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 114, column 1.
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