Standard Lemma guide

co-wife

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈkəʊ.waɪf/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈkoʊ.waɪf/
  • CMU ARPABET: K OW1 W AY1 F Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

In a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman’s husband.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From co- + wife.

Across languages

Translations

59 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: shemër — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Arabic: ضَرَّة (ḍarra) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Arabic: جَارة (jāra) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Arabic: شريچة (širīča) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Aramaic: עָרְתָא (ʿārəṯā) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Aramaic: ܥܲܪܬܼܵܐ (ʿarrəṯā) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Assamese: সতিনী (xotini) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Avestan: 𐬵𐬀𐬞𐬀𐬚𐬥𐬍 (hapaθnī) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Bengali: সপত্নী (śopotni) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Bengali: সতিন (śotin) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Chinese Mandarin: 媵 (yìng) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Esperanto: kunedzino — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Esperanto: boedzino — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Finnish: sisarvaimo — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • French: coépouse — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • French: co-épouse — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • French: sœur-épouse — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Pulaar: nawliraaɗo — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Pulaar: siinaa — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Pulaar: nawlan — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Gujarati: શોકય (śokya) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Gujarati: શોક (śok) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Gujarati: સપત્ની (sapatnī) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Hausa: kīshìyā — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Hebrew: צָרָה (tsará) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Hindi: सौत (saut) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Hindi: सौतन (sautan) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Inupiaq: nuliiraq — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Kashmiri: سوتَن (sōtan) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Kikuyu: mũiru — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Northern Kurdish: hewî — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Malay: madu — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Eastern Maninkakan: sìna — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Marathi: सवत (savat) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Marathi: सपत्नी (sapatnī) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Nupe: tsudò — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Odia: ସଉତୁଣୀ (sautuṇi) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Odia: ସପତ୍ନୀ (sapatni) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Pashto: بن (bən) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Persian: هوو (havu) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Persian: بنانج (banânj) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Phoenician: 𐤑𐤓𐤕 (ṣrt) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Polish: współżona — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Punjabi: ਸੌਂਕਣ (sauṅkaṇ) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Russian: втора́я жена́ (vtorája žená) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Russian: тре́тья жена́ (trétʹja žená) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Sanskrit: सपत्नी (sapatnī) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Spanish: coesposa — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Swahili: mke mwenza — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Tajik: палонҷ (palonj) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Tamil: சக்களத்தி (cakkaḷatti) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Turkish: kuma — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Turkish: ortak — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Urdu: سَوتَن (sautan) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Urdu: سَوت (saut) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Urdu: سَوکَن (saukan) — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Vietnamese: vợ bé — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Ye'kwana: öiyaato — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband
  • Yoruba: orogún — in a polygamous marriage, another wife of a woman's husband