Witwe

German

Alternative forms

Wittib, Witib (southern Germany, Austria; now dialectal)

Etymology

From Middle High German witewe, from Old High German wituwa, from Proto-Germanic *widuwǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁widʰéwh₂ (“widow”). Germanic cognates include Dutch weduwe, Old Saxon widowa, Old English widewe, whence English widow, which see.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈvɪtvə/, [ˈvɪtʋə], [ˈʋɪtʋə] (standard)
IPA^(key): /ˈvɪtfə/ (also common)
Audio (file)

Noun

Witwe f (genitive Witwe, plural Witwen, masculine Witwer)

widow

Declension

Declension of Witwe

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Witwe	die	Witwen
genitive	einer	der	Witwe	der	Witwen
dative	einer	der	Witwe	den	Witwen
accusative	eine	die	Witwe	die	Witwen

Synonyms

Witfrau (dialectal throughout High German; rarely standard)

Derived terms

Schwarze Witwe
Witwenmacher
Witwenrente
Witwenschaft
Witwenstand
Witwentröster
Witwentum

Related terms

Verwiterung (rare)
verwitwet
Verwitwung

Further reading

Witwe in Duden online

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