Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

archwife

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: arch-wife
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A big, masculine wife; a dominating woman; virago.

Example Sentences

"You archwives, strong as camels, take the high And overpowering hand against the male."
"Lady Wallingford had been circulating defamatory libels against Buckingham, leading James to comment that Wallingford was like his father-in-law, 'altogether guided and overruled by an archwife'."
""To pay homage to the World Harlot, the Mandrake Venus, the Archwife, the Ever-existing, who has been, is, and will be. […]""
"All the same, Master Kit, it looks like you're in a case of pickles – if her ma's half the archwife the postboy says she is! Seems to me you'll have to hang up your axe.'"
"Some poor fool might have been saved a lifetime of misery if the archwife had drowned in the ditch after all."

Etymology

From Middle English archewyf, arche wif, equivalent to arch- + wife.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Prefix: arch
Root: archewyf

Inflected Forms

archwives (plural)

Questions

What does archwife mean?: A big, masculine wife; a dominating woman; virago.
Where does archwife come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce archwife

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