WIFES
Noun
wifes
(nonstandard) plural of wife
Usage notes
The generally accepted plural of wife is wives.
Source: Wiktionary
WIFE
Wife, n.; pl; Wives. Etym: [OE. wif, AS. wif; akin to OFries. & OS.
wif, D. wijf, G. weib, OHG. wib, Icel. vif, Dan. viv; and perhaps to
Skr. vip excited, agitated, inspired, vip to tremble, L. vibrare to
vibrate, E. vibrate. Cf. Tacitus, [" Germania" 8]: Inesse quin etiam
sanctum aliquid et providum putant, nec aut consilia earum
aspernantur aut responsa neglegunt. Cf. Hussy a jade, Woman.]
1. A woman; an adult female; -- now used in literature only in
certain compounds and phrases, as alewife, fishwife, goodwife, and
the like. " Both men and wives." Piers Plowman.
On the green he saw sitting a wife. Chaucer.
2. The lawful consort of a man; a woman who is united to a man in
wedlock; a woman who has a husband; a married woman; -- correlative
of husband. " The husband of one wife." 1 Tin. iii. 2.
Let every one you . . . so love his wife even as himself, and the
wife see that she reverence her husband. Eph. v. 33.
To give to wife, To take to wife, to give or take (a woman) in
marriage.
– Wife's equity (Law), the equitable right or claim of a married
woman to a reasonable and adequate provision, by way of settlement or
otherwise, out of her choses in action, or out of any property of
hers which is under the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery, for
the support of herself and her children. Burrill.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition