See grass widow in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for grass widow meaning in English (7.4kB)
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "grass-widowed"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "grass widower"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "grass widowhood"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "",
"3": "grasse wydowe"
},
"expansion": "English grasse wydowe",
"name": "m+"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gml",
"2": "grasswēdewe"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German grasswēdewe",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grass gown",
"t": "premarital loss of virginity"
},
"expansion": "grass gown (“premarital loss of virginity”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "grasweduwe"
},
"expansion": "Dutch grasweduwe",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "gräsänka"
},
"expansion": "Swedish gräsänka",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Strohwitwe"
},
"expansion": "German Strohwitwe",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The word appears in the Germanic languages in different forms and senses, but the oldest (both 16th century) are English grasse wydowe and Middle Low German grasswēdewe, both meaning “girl who has lost her virginity, harlot”. Therefore “grass” in all likelihood refers to a bedding for premarital sex. Compare the expression grass gown (“premarital loss of virginity”). The girl became a “widow” in the sense that she was neither married nor a virgin. The sense then developed through “married woman who has relations in her husband’s absence” to the contemporary, softened meaning. Compare Dutch grasweduwe, Swedish gräsänka, German Strohwitwe.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "grass widows",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "grass widow (plural grass widows)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "60 40",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1941, James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce, New York: Random House",
"text": "Then Mrs. Gessler shook her head. \"Well, you've joined the biggest army on earth. You're the great American institution that never gets mentioned on Fourth of July -- a grass widow with two small children to support. The dirty bastards.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "Isaac Bashevis Singer, translated by Marian Magid and Elizabeth Pollet Collected stories : Gimpel the fool to The letter writer: Gimpel the fool & other stories, The Spinoza of Market Street, Short Friday & other stories, The séance & other stories, \"Yentl the Yeshiva Boy\", New York : Library of America : Distributed in the United States by Penguin Putnam, p. 461",
"text": "And who ever heard of a demon sending his wife a divorce? When a demon marries a daughter of mortals,he usually lets her remain a grass widow."
},
{
"ref": "1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 226",
"text": "I was disappointed when it was her who opened the door and said, ‘Ah, I had a feeling you were thinking about me! Come in, come in, do! I am a grass widow.’",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A married woman whose spouse is away."
],
"id": "en-grass_widow-en-noun-J2xuWLPL",
"links": [
[
"spouse",
"spouse"
]
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "slaměná vdova"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "græsenke"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "groene weduwe"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "onbestorven weduwe"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "fo",
"lang": "Faroese",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "graseinkja"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"word": "vihreä leski"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Strohwitwe"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "grüne Witwe"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"roman": "almenat kásh",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "אלמנת קש"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"word": "szalmaözvegy"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "kk",
"lang": "Kazakh",
"roman": "uaqytşa küieusız tūrğan äiel",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"word": "уақытша күйеусіз тұрған әйел"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "lt",
"lang": "Lithuanian",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "gyvanašlė"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "gressenke"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "grasenke"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "grasenkje"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "słomiana wdowa"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "solómennaja vdová",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "соло́менная вдова́"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"word": "esposa separada temporalmente"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "gräsänka"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "10 90",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "14 86",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "14 86",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An unmarried woman who has had premarital sexual relations; a former mistress."
],
"id": "en-grass_widow-en-noun-4-m4Vu2a",
"links": [
[
"unmarried",
"unmarried"
],
[
"premarital",
"premarital"
],
[
"sexual",
"sexual"
],
[
"mistress",
"mistress"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(obsolete) An unmarried woman who has had premarital sexual relations; a former mistress."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɡɹɑːs ˌwɪdəʊ/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-grass widow.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/52/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-grass_widow.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-grass_widow.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/52/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-grass_widow.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-grass_widow.wav.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"word": "grass widow"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"en:People"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "grass-widowed"
},
{
"word": "grass widower"
},
{
"word": "grass widowhood"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "",
"3": "grasse wydowe"
},
"expansion": "English grasse wydowe",
"name": "m+"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "gml",
"2": "grasswēdewe"
},
"expansion": "Middle Low German grasswēdewe",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grass gown",
"t": "premarital loss of virginity"
},
"expansion": "grass gown (“premarital loss of virginity”)",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "grasweduwe"
},
"expansion": "Dutch grasweduwe",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "gräsänka"
},
"expansion": "Swedish gräsänka",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Strohwitwe"
},
"expansion": "German Strohwitwe",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "The word appears in the Germanic languages in different forms and senses, but the oldest (both 16th century) are English grasse wydowe and Middle Low German grasswēdewe, both meaning “girl who has lost her virginity, harlot”. Therefore “grass” in all likelihood refers to a bedding for premarital sex. Compare the expression grass gown (“premarital loss of virginity”). The girl became a “widow” in the sense that she was neither married nor a virgin. The sense then developed through “married woman who has relations in her husband’s absence” to the contemporary, softened meaning. Compare Dutch grasweduwe, Swedish gräsänka, German Strohwitwe.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "grass widows",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "grass widow (plural grass widows)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1941, James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce, New York: Random House",
"text": "Then Mrs. Gessler shook her head. \"Well, you've joined the biggest army on earth. You're the great American institution that never gets mentioned on Fourth of July -- a grass widow with two small children to support. The dirty bastards.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "Isaac Bashevis Singer, translated by Marian Magid and Elizabeth Pollet Collected stories : Gimpel the fool to The letter writer: Gimpel the fool & other stories, The Spinoza of Market Street, Short Friday & other stories, The séance & other stories, \"Yentl the Yeshiva Boy\", New York : Library of America : Distributed in the United States by Penguin Putnam, p. 461",
"text": "And who ever heard of a demon sending his wife a divorce? When a demon marries a daughter of mortals,he usually lets her remain a grass widow."
},
{
"ref": "1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 226",
"text": "I was disappointed when it was her who opened the door and said, ‘Ah, I had a feeling you were thinking about me! Come in, come in, do! I am a grass widow.’",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A married woman whose spouse is away."
],
"links": [
[
"spouse",
"spouse"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with obsolete senses"
],
"glosses": [
"An unmarried woman who has had premarital sexual relations; a former mistress."
],
"links": [
[
"unmarried",
"unmarried"
],
[
"premarital",
"premarital"
],
[
"sexual",
"sexual"
],
[
"mistress",
"mistress"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(obsolete) An unmarried woman who has had premarital sexual relations; a former mistress."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɡɹɑːs ˌwɪdəʊ/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-grass widow.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/52/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-grass_widow.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-grass_widow.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/52/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-grass_widow.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-grass_widow.wav.ogg",
"tags": [
"US"
],
"text": "Audio (US)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "slaměná vdova"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "græsenke"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "groene weduwe"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "onbestorven weduwe"
},
{
"code": "fo",
"lang": "Faroese",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "graseinkja"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"word": "vihreä leski"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Strohwitwe"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "grüne Witwe"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"roman": "almenat kásh",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "אלמנת קש"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"word": "szalmaözvegy"
},
{
"code": "kk",
"lang": "Kazakh",
"roman": "uaqytşa küieusız tūrğan äiel",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"word": "уақытша күйеусіз тұрған әйел"
},
{
"code": "lt",
"lang": "Lithuanian",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "gyvanašlė"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "gressenke"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "grasenke"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "grasenkje"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "słomiana wdowa"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "solómennaja vdová",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "соло́менная вдова́"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"word": "esposa separada temporalmente"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "woman whose husband is away",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "gräsänka"
}
],
"word": "grass widow"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.