widow (English)

Where does "widow" come from?

The English word 'widow' has a deep lineage, descending through Middle English 'widwe'[1][4] and Old English 'widuwe'[1][5] from Proto-West Germanic '*widuwā'[1][5][6] and Proto-Germanic '*widuwǭ'[1][3]. These forms trace back to Proto-Indo-European '*h₁widʰéwh₂'[1], which is understood to be a derivative of the root '*h₁weydʰh₁-' or '*widʰ-' meaning 'to separate, split, cleave, divide'[1] because widows are separated from their spouses[2].

Open questions

The Proto-Indo-European term is possibly derived from a root meaning to separate, split, cleave, or divide. [1]

Full etymology tree

widow (English), 'A person whose spouse is absent:'
- inherited widwe (Middle English), 'widow'
  - inherited widuwe (Old English), 'widow'
    - inherited *widuwā (Proto-West Germanic), 'widow'
      - inherited *widuwǭ (Proto-Germanic), 'widow'
        inherited *h₁widʰéwh₂ (Proto-Indo-European), 'widow'
        derived *h₁weydʰh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to separate, divide'
        derived *widʰ- (Proto-Indo-European)

Ancestors

widwe (Middle English)
widuwe (Old English)
*widuwā (Proto-West Germanic)
*widuwǭ (Proto-Germanic)
*h₁widʰéwh₂ (Proto-Indo-European)

Cognates and doublets

ve (Albanian)
ἠΐθεος (Ancient Greek)
удава (Belarusian)
بێوە (Central Kurdish)
bittaba (Cimbrian)
weduwe (Dutch)
Witwe (German)
𐍅𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍅𐍉 (Gothic)
vidua (Latin)
widu (Old English)
fedb (Old Irish)
идӕдз (Ossetian)

Descendants and derived words

alpha widow (English)
black widow (English)
chuck-will's-widow (English)
Dutch widow (English)
false widow (English)
golf widow (English)
grass widow (English)
hempen widow (English)
hemp-widow (English)
merry widow (English)
military widow (English)
trans widow (English)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris