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wid·ow

(wĭdō)

1. A woman whose spouse has died and who has not remarried.

2. Informal A woman whose spouse is often away pursuing a sport or hobby.

3. An additional hand of cards dealt face down in some card games, to be used by the highest bidder. Also called kitty¹.

4. Printing

a. A single, usually short line of type, as one ending a paragraph, carried over to the top of the next page or column.

b. A short line of type at the bottom of a page, column, or paragraph.

tr.v. wid·owed, wid·ow·ing, wid·ows

To make a widow or widower of.

[Middle English widewe, from Old English widuwe.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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