# housewife

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhaʊs.waɪf/ · frequency rank #17,159

## Definitions
1. A woman whose main employment is homemaking, maintaining the upkeep of her home and tending to household affairs; often, such a woman whose sole [unpaid] employment is homemaking.
2. The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household.
3. A little case or bag for materials used in sewing, and for other articles of female work.
4. A worthless woman; a hussy.

## Etymology
From Middle English houswyf, housewif, huswijf, equivalent to house + wife; a doublet of hussy, which it was long distinguished from and displaced due to gradual negative connotation (see Online Etymology Dictionary entry). Cognate with West Frisian húswiif, Dutch huiswijf, German Low German Huuswief, German Hausweib.

## Common misspellings (12)
`hhousewife`, `hosuewife`, `houeswife`, `houseiwfe`, `housewfie`, `housewief`, `housewiffe`, `housewwife`, `houssewife`, `housweife`, `huosewife`, `ohusewife`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/housewife