old wife
English
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
old wife
Where it comes from
From Middle English ald wyf, eld wiif, olde wyffe.
noun old wives
- An old woman, later especially one who tells old wives' tales. Once John, being overtaken in drink on the roadside by the cottage, and dreaming that he was burning in hell, awoke and saw the old wife hobbling toward him. Thereupon he fled soberly to the hills, and from that day became a quiet-living, humble-minded Christian.
- the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)
- A species of perciform fish endemic to the temperate coastal waters of Australia (Enoplosus armatus)
- Balistes vetula (Queen triggerfish)
- Certain spot-tail porgies (Diplodus ascensionis, Diplodus helenae)
- Spondyliosoma cantharus (black seabream)
- Trachinotus goodei (great pompano)
- A wrasse
- The long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis. The Oldvvives, be a foule that never leave tatling day or night, ſomething bigger than a Ducke.
- A chimney cap to prevent smoking.
Talk about this word "old wife." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/old%20wife. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026. old wife. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/old%20wife "old wife." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/old%20wife.Cite this
@misc{old_wife_2026,
title = {old wife},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/old%20wife},
urldate = {2026-11-07}
}
