goodwife

noun

1. A female head of a household.

   obsolete

   "O my lord the Sultan," said the other [the Wazir], "verily women be weakly of wits, and haply this goodwife cometh hither to complain before thee against her goodman or some of her people."

2. A title of respect for a woman.

   obsolete

Where it comes from

From Middle English goodwyf, godwyf, godwif, equivalent to good + wife.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry goodwife (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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