"wive" meaning in English

See wive in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

IPA: /waɪv/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wive.wav Forms: wives [present, singular, third-person], wiving [participle, present], wived [participle, past], wived [past]
Rhymes: -aɪv Etymology: From Middle English wiven, iwiven, from Old English wīfian, wīfiġan, ġewīfian (“to take a wife; marry”). Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|wiven}} Middle English wiven, {{inh|en|ang|wīfian}} Old English wīfian Head templates: {{en-verb}} wive (third-person singular simple present wives, present participle wiving, simple past and past participle wived)
  1. (ambitransitive) To marry (a woman). Tags: ambitransitive
    Sense id: en-wive-en-verb-lyXBNVE5 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 2 entries, Marriage Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 30 29 35 5 Disambiguation of Marriage: 69 31
  2. (transitive) To provide (someone) with a wife. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-wive-en-verb-NLAfcD9b Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 2 entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 50 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 30 29 35 5
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: wife (english: African-American Vernacular) [slang]

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "wiven"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wiven",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wīfian"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wīfian",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English wiven, iwiven, from Old English wīfian, wīfiġan, ġewīfian (“to take a wife; marry”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "wives",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wiving",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wived",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wived",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "wive (third-person singular simple present wives, present participle wiving, simple past and past participle wived)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "30 29 35 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "69 31",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Marriage",
          "orig": "en:Marriage",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              105,
              109
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:",
          "text": "If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To marry (a woman)."
      ],
      "id": "en-wive-en-verb-lyXBNVE5",
      "links": [
        [
          "marry",
          "marry"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(ambitransitive) To marry (a woman)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "ambitransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "50 50",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "30 29 35 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To provide (someone) with a wife."
      ],
      "id": "en-wive-en-verb-NLAfcD9b",
      "links": [
        [
          "wife",
          "wife"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To provide (someone) with a wife."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/waɪv/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wive.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-wive.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-wive.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-wive.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-wive.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪv"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "english": "African-American Vernacular",
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "word": "wife"
    }
  ],
  "word": "wive"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English verbs",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English non-lemma forms",
    "Middle English noun forms",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old English",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Old English",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/aɪv",
    "Rhymes:English/aɪv/1 syllable",
    "en:Marriage"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
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        "1": "en",
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        "3": "wiven"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wiven",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wīfian"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wīfian",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English wiven, iwiven, from Old English wīfian, wīfiġan, ġewīfian (“to take a wife; marry”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "wives",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wiving",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wived",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "wived",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "wive (third-person singular simple present wives, present participle wiving, simple past and past participle wived)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              105,
              109
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:",
          "text": "If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To marry (a woman)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "marry",
          "marry"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(ambitransitive) To marry (a woman)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "ambitransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To provide (someone) with a wife."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wife",
          "wife"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To provide (someone) with a wife."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/waɪv/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-wive.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-wive.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-wive.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/53/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-wive.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-wive.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪv"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "english": "African-American Vernacular",
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "word": "wife"
    }
  ],
  "word": "wive"
}

Download raw JSONL data for wive meaning in English (2.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (92124b4 and f1c2b61). 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.