husband
The definition of a husband is a male partner in a marriage.
(noun)The man a woman is married to is an example of a husband.
To husband is defined as to conserve or use economically.
(verb)An example of to husband is to save water and other natural resources.
See husband in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun
- a man with reference to the woman to whom he is married
- any married man
- Archaic a manager, as of a household
Origin: ME husbonde, householder, husband < Late OE husbonda < ON hūsbondi, lit., householder < hūs, house + bondi, freeholder, yeoman < earlier būandi, prp. of būa, to dwell: see bondage
transitive verb
- to manage economically; conserve
- Archaic to provide with a husband or become the husband of; marry
- Archaic to cultivate (soil or plants)
See husband in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- A man joined to a another person in marriage; a male spouse.
- Chiefly British A manager or steward, as of a household.
- Archaic A prudent, thrifty manager.
- To use sparingly or economically; conserve: husband one's energy.
- Archaic To find a husband for.
Origin:
Origin: Middle English huseband
Origin: , from Old English hūsbōnda
Origin: , from Old Norse hūsbōndi
Origin: : hūs, house
Origin: + bōndi, būandi, householder
Origin: , present participle of būa, to dwell; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots
. Word History: The English word husband, even though it is a basic kinship term, is not a native English word. It comes ultimately from the Old Norse word hūsbōndi, meaning “master of a house,” which was borrowed into Old English as hūsbōnda. The second element in hūsbōndi, bōndi, means “a man who has land and stock” and comes from the Old Norse verb būa, meaning “to live, dwell, have a household.” The master of the house was usually a spouse as well, of course, and it would seem that the main modern sense of husband arises from this overlap. When the Norsemen settled in Anglo-Saxon England, they would often take Anglo-Saxon women as their wives; it was then natural to refer to the husband using the Norse word for the concept, and to refer to the wife with her Anglo-Saxon (Old English) designation, wīf, “woman, wife” (Modern English wife). Interestingly, Old English did have a feminine word related to Old Norse hūsbōndi that meant “mistress of a house,” namely, hūsbonde. Had this word survived into Modern English, it would have sounded identical to husband—surely leading to ambiguities.Learn more about husband
