co-wife

co-wife

See also: cowife

English

Etymology

co- +‎ wife

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊwaɪf/[1]

Noun

co-wife (plural co-wives)

1. In a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband.
   • 1892, Kipling & Balestier, Naulahka, page 247:

     If a co-wife had sought the lives of those three of thine.

   • 1990, Syed A. A. Razwy, Khadija-tul-Kubra (the Wife of the Prophet Muhammed) May Allah be Pleased with Her: A Short Story of Her Life), page 165:

     In fact, [Ayesha] was more jealous of Khadija, the dead wife, than she was of any of her living co-wives.

   • 2000, Marjorie Shostak, Nisa, the life and words of a ǃKung woman, page 152:

     If the senior wife decides to make life unbearable for her co-wife and their husband, she is likely to succeed in forcing the newcomer to leave.

   • 2008, Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen, Polygamy: a cross-cultural analysis, page 32:

     In other words, polygamous societies differ markedly with regards to allowing kin, especially sisters, to become co-wives. Sororal polygamy is practised in some societies because it is believed to foster greater cohesiveness among co-wives sharing values and norms, whereas it is specifically forbidden in other polygamous societies.

Synonyms

• co-bride, fellow-wife, wife-in-law

Coordinate terms

• co-husband

Related terms

• sister-wife
• co-in-law

Translations

Co-wife

Arabic: ضَرَّة‎ f (ḍarra) Aramaic: Hebrew: עָרְתָא‎ f (ʿārəṯā) Syriac: ܥܲܪܬܼܵܐ‎ f (ʿarrəṯā) Chinese: Mandarin: 媵 (zh) (yìng) Esperanto: kunedzino, boedzino French: coépouse (fr) f, co-épouse (fr) f, sœur-épouse f Hebrew: צָרָה‎ (he) f (tsarah)

Inupiak: nuliiraq Kikuyu: mũiru class 1 Malay: madu Persian: هوو‎ (fa) (havu), بنانج‎ (banânj) Russian: втора́я жена́ (vtorája žená) (second wife), тре́тья жена́ (trétʹja žená) (third wife, etc.) Sanskrit: सपत्नी (sa) (sapatnī) Spanish: coesposa Swahili: mke mwenza Turkish: kuma (tr), ortak (tr)

References

1. OED