WIDOWING

Verb

widowing

present participle of widow

Source: Wiktionary


WIDOW

Wid"ow, n. Etym: [OE. widewe, widwe, AS. weoduwe, widuwe, wuduwe; akin to OFries. widwe, OS. widowa, D. weduwe, G. wittwe, witwe, OHG. wituwa, witawa, Goth. widuw, Russ. udova, OIr. fedb, W. gweddw, L. vidua, Skr. vidhava; and probably to Skr. vidh to be empty, to lack; cf. Gr. Vidual.]

Definition: A woman who has lost her husband by death, and has not married again; one living bereaved of a husband. "A poor widow." Chaucer. Grass widow. See under Grass.

– Widow bewitched, a woman separated from her husband; a grass widow. [Colloq.] Widow-in-mourning (Zoöl.), the macavahu.

– Widow monkey (Zoöl.), a small South American monkey (Callithrix lugens); -- so called on account of its color, which is black except the dull whitish arms, neck, and face, and a ring of pure white around the face.

– Widow's chamber (Eng. Law), in London, the apparel and furniture of the bedchamber of the widow of a freeman, to which she was formerly entitled.

Wid"ow, a.

Definition: Widowed. "A widow woman." 1 Kings xvii. 9. "This widow lady." Shak.

Wid"ow, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Widowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Widowing.]

1. To reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle. Though in thus city he Hath widowed and unchilded many a one, Which to this hour bewail the injury. Shak.

2. To deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to bereave. The widowed isle, in mourning, Dries up her tears. Dryden. Tress of their shriveled fruits Are widowed, dreary storms o'er all prevail. J. Philips. Mourn, widowed queen; forgotten Sion, mourn. Heber.

3. To endow with a widow's right. [R.] Shak.

4. To become, or survive as, the widow of. [Obs.] Let me be married to three kings in a forenoon, and widow them all. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

15 March 2025

TRUNCATION

(noun) the replacement of an edge or solid angle (as in cutting a gemstone) by a plane (especially by a plane that is equally inclined to the adjacent faces)


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.

coffee icon