n., pl. -wives (-wīvz').

1. A woman who manages her own household as her main occupation.
2. (hŭz'ĭf) A small container for needles, thread, and other sewing equipment.

[Middle English houswif : hous, house; see house + wife, wife; see wife.]

Archaic term used primarily in broadcast media research to denote any woman over 16 years of age who is head of a household.

(Civil War through WW II) Sewing kit.

Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a wife who who manages a household while her husband earns the family income
  Synonyms: homemaker, lady of the house, woman of the house

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - husmoder

Nederlands (Dutch)
huisvrouw

Français (French)
n. - femme au foyer, ménagère

Deutsch (German)
n. - Hausfrau

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (παντρεμένη) νοικοκυρά

Italiano (Italian)
casalinga

Português (Portuguese)
n. - dona (f) de casa

Русский (Russian)
домашняя хозяйка

Español (Spanish)
n. - ama de casa, madre de familia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - hemmafru, syetui

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
主妇, 家庭主妇

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 主婦, 家庭主婦

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 주부, 반짇고리

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 主婦, 針箱, 裁縫道具入れ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ربه المنزل, علبه الخياطه الأبر والخيوط‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עקרת בית‬

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