Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Wifely character or condition; the state of being a wife.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Womanhood.
  • noun The state of being a wife; the character of a wife.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The quality or state of being a wife.
  • noun The character or behaviour that befits a good wife; wifeliness.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From wife +‎ -hood.

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Examples

  • Recently in a college history textbook, I read an interesting part that explained to me why so many young women do not think that homemaking and wifehood is the highest a woman could possibly achieve in life.

    Better At Home 2007

  • Recently in a college history textbook, I read an interesting part that explained to me why so many young women do not think that homemaking and wifehood is the highest a woman could possibly achieve in life.

    Archive 2007-12-01 2007

  • But here's the next turn: although old Maria Martell feels that spurning domestic wifehood is necessary if she is to pursue her dreams, her fate is not exactly to be single either.

    The Great Escape 2005

  • But here's the next turn: although old Maria Martell feels that spurning domestic wifehood is necessary if she is to pursue her dreams, her fate is not exactly to be single either.

    The Great Escape 2005

  • But here's the next turn: although old Maria Martell feels that spurning domestic wifehood is necessary if she is to pursue her dreams, her fate is not exactly to be single either.

    The Great Escape 2005

  • The marital union may be characterized by the refusal of the woman to assume any serious obligation of wifehood or motherhood.

    March « 2010 « Awful Library Books 2010

  • Those who by virtue of wifehood and daughterhood are respectable, and those who are not respectable.

    CHAPTER 4 2010

  • The marital union may be characterized by the refusal of the woman to assume any serious obligation of wifehood or motherhood.

    Childbirth with Hypnosis « Awful Library Books 2010

  • Like Obama's off-the-shoulder ensemble, Kelly's royal bridal gown was a sartorial divider page: the end of a blushing political preamble, the beginning of world-stage wifehood.

    No Wonder They Called Her Grace 2010

  • You say that wifehood, motherhood, homemaking, etc are things that must be done when it is time to do them.

    The Better Part 2008

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