The term wife is most commonly applied to a woman in a union sanctioned by law (including religious law), but not to a woman in an informal cohabitation relationship, which may be known as a girlfriend, partner, cohabitant, significant other, concubine, mistress, etc. On the other hand, wive is a verb that means to marry a woman or take a wife. The meaning of wife is woman
How to use wife in a sentence. Wife refers to a married woman, often used in the context of marriage and relationships The woman that you are married to
See examples of wife used in a sentence. A combining form of wife, now unproductive, occurring in words that designate traditional roles or occupations of women There are 15 meanings listed in oed's entry for the noun wife, one of which is labelled obsolete See ‘meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
