See Also: husband(medicine)
husband(1)(dictionary)
husband(2)(dictionary)
HUSBAND, mar(law)
house husband(dictionary)
husband 1, noun(dictionary)
husband 2, verb(dictionary)

husband(1) (iou)



husband noun. LOE.
[Old Norse husbondi master of a house, husband, from hus HOUSE noun1 + bondi occupier and tiller of the soil: see BOND noun1.]
I. The master of a house; the male head of a household. LOE-ME.
A married man esp. in relation to his wife. ME.
COMPLAISANT husband.
W. Trevor Her husband..had married her...in the church of St. Cyril. transf.: E. Topsell A Bull is the husband of a Cow.
II.
The manager of a household or establishment; a steward. obsolete exc. in ship's husband below. LOE.
ship's husband an agent appointed by a ship's owners to see that a ship in port is well provided in all respects.
H. Finch The King hath a proper Court...The Judges whereof are called Barons, or housebands.
A tiller and cultivator of the soil, a farmer. Also, a manorial tenant (cf. HUSBANDLAND). ME-M18.
J. Tull Once in seven Years, the worst Husbands have the best Corn.
a. A good manager of his affairs. LME-L16.
b. With qualifying adjective: a good, bad, etc., manager of his affairs. arch. E16.
Defoe I had been so good a husband of my rum that I had a great deal left. M. R. James The next abbot was a bad husband to the Abbey.
husbandhood noun the state or position of a husband, the fact of being a husband LME.
husbandless adjective without a husband; unmarried; widowed: LME.
husbandlike adjective & adverb after the manner of a husband M16.
husbandom noun (rare) = husbandhood L19.
husbandship noun (a) rare husbandly behaviour; (b) the fact or condition of being the husband of: L18.