old wifen.

Brit.

/ˌəʊl(d) ˈwʌɪf/, U.S.

/ˈoʊl(d) ˈwaɪf/

Inflections: Plural old wives.

Forms: see old adj. and wife n. In senses 2, 3 usually with capital initials.

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: old adj., wife n.

Etymology: < old adj. + wife n. Compare Dutch oud wijf (also used for the fish Balistes vetula, compare sense 2), Old High German altwīb (German Altweib (now only in compounds)).With sense 1b compare Dutch oudwijfs fabel , oudewijvenpraat , German Altweiberfabel , Altweibermärchen . It is possible that the construction in English may originally have shown the genitive singular of wife n., as the forms at this date are ambiguous (compare also old woman's tale n. at old woman n. 1b). With the derivatives compare Middle Dutch outwivelijc, altwijflijk (Dutch oudwijfelijk), Dutch oudwijfsch, early modern German altweibisch (1525), altweiblich (1523).

a. An old woman. In later use (also): a person who tells old wives' tales. (Formerly sometimes as one word.) Now usually derogatory.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun]

old wifeeOE

old womanOE

trota1375

carlinec1375

cronec1386

vecke1390

monea1393

hagc1400

ribibec1405

aunt?a1425

crate14..

witchc1475

mauda1500

mackabroine1546

grandam?1550

grannam1565

old lady1575

beldam1580

lucky1629

granny1634

patriarchess1639

runta1652

harridan1699

grimalkin1798

mama1810

tante1815

wifie1823

maw1826

old dear1836

tante1845

Mother Bunch1847

douairière1869

dowager1870

veteraness1880

old trout1897

tab1909

bag1924

crow1925

ma1932

Skinny Liz1940

old bag1947

old boot1958

tannie1958

LOL1960

eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 18/2 Anus, alduuif.

OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xviii. 13 Sceal ic nu eald wif cennan?

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 528 (MED) Hwil þu swenchest..scheome teke þet sar wið þe alde wifes scheome creft, þe cunnen of þet wasið.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 219 A guod ald wyf porchaceþ more of heuene..biddinde, þanne ssolde do a þouzond knyȝtes..be hare armes.

c1395 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 1000 A fouler wight ther may no man deuyse; Agayn the knyght this old wyf gan ryse.

c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 986 (MED) Thane answers sir Arthure to þat alde wyf.

?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 2^v An Alde wife, Annus, Anicula, vetula.

1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence Heautontimoroumenos ii. iii, in Terence in Eng. 212 The old wife shee spun the woufe.

1615 Bp. J. Hall No Peace with Rome xx, in Recoll. Treat. 881 Some superstitious olde wife, or some idle and silly cloisterer.

1641 Marianvs xvii. 157 The old Wives say, they that feed with the Divell must have a long spoone.

1737 A. Ramsay Coll. Scots Prov. v. 10 Auld Wives and Bairns make Fools of Physicians.

1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) xiii. 332 But I find that those I could have wagered upon one as bigotted in every point as any old wife of what religion soever.

a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 99 An auld wife's tongue's a feckless matter.

1814 Ld. Byron Let. 24 Mar. (1975) IV. 85 They [sc. Coleridge, Southey, Wordsworth] know nothing of the world... They are mere old wives.

1834 W. A. Caruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. xvii. 188 What a stump speech he could make, if he would only turn his hand to it, instead of wasting his wind here among the old wives!

1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xiii. 213 I don't know whether he's a liar or only an old wife.

1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song ii. 120 Damn the fears, that's nothing but an old wife's gabble for fearing the bairns.

1992 M. Clynes White Rose Murder (BNC) 84 The ghosts of the dead came back to their resting place (or so the old wives say).

2000 M. Herman Purely Belter 22 Jesus, I wish we'd had that cup o'tea the old wife back there offered us. I'm gasping.

b. old wives' tale n. (also old wife's tale, old wives' story, old wives' fable) an unlikely story; a widely held or traditional belief now thought to be incorrect or erroneous. Cf. earlier old woman's tale n. at old woman n. 1b.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > a false or foolish tale > [noun] > as told by old women

old woman's talea1425

old wives' talea1680

1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Tim. iv. 7 Cast awaye vngostly and olde wyves fables[a1425 Wycliffite, L.V. elde wymmenus fablis; 1535 Coverdale, olde wyuesh fables].

1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes Ded. 1 Many..suppose all that is reported..to be mere trifles and old wyves tales.

a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. C2 Thinkst thou that Faustus is so fond, To imagine, that after this life there is any paine? Tush these are trifles and meere olde wiues tales.

a1637 B. Jonson Tale of Tub Prol. 68 in Wks. (1640) III Antick Proverbs, drawne from Whitson-Lord's, And their Authorities, at Wakes and Ales, With countrey precedents, and old Wives Tales.

a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 78 So simple were those Times, when a grave Sage Could with an Old-wive's-Tale instruct the Age.

1708 Ld. Shaftesbury Let. conc. Enthusiasm 9 A solid System of old Wives Storys.

1739 T. C. Pagett Kind of Dial. in Hudibrasticks 10 Right and Wrong are old Wives Tales, And Nothing's bad but that which fails.

1848 J. R. Planché Extravaganzas (1879) III. ii. iv. 221 She makes a jest of old wives' stories.

1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 45 These are the sort of old wives' tales which he sings and recites to us.

1915 Sci. Monthly Oct. 80 We may pass by the objectors of the class who believe that vaccinated persons cough like cows and bellow like bulls; these objections go into the limbo of old wives' fables.

1942 Amer. Hist. Rev 47 554 In handling his subject the author wisely has resisted the temptation to make a rag-bag collection of folklore and old wives' tales.

2000 Guardian 5 Sept. ii. 16/4 The old wives' tale about tequila's mind-altering properties comes from its proximity to mezcal, which in turn has been confused with mescaline.

2. Any of various mostly deep-bodied edible marine fishes, spec. (a) a wrasse; (b) the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus; (c) the menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus; (d) the black sea bream, Spondyliosoma cantharus; (e) the queen triggerfish, Balistes vetula; (f) a small brown and white striped fish with pink fins, Enoplosus armatus (family Enoplosidae), of Australasian coasts.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Sparidae (sea-breams) > [noun] > member of (sea-bream)

baleenc1185

sea-bream1530

old wife1585

pargo1589

ruffle1601

sargon1601

sargus1605

sea-liver1611

ruffe1647

silver-fish1703

porgy1725

brassem1731

red gilt-head1776

sparoid1842

panga1902

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Tetraodontiformes (puffers) > [noun] > family Balistidae (trigger-fish)

old wife1585

trigger-fish1849

queen triggerfish1906

the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > order Clupeiformes > [noun] > family Clupeidae and herrings > clupea serrata (ale-wife)

old wife1585

alewife1633

river herring1842

kyak1849

Taunton turkey1851

the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > order Clupeiformes > [noun] > family Clupeidae and herrings > brevoortia tyrannus (menhaden)

old wife1585

yellowtaila1622

whiting1735

shadine1782

hardhead1792

menhaden1792

mossbunker1792

bony fish1815

pauhagen1833

pogy1840

green-tailed shad1884

schoolie1891

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Labrioidei (wrasse) > [noun] > family Labridae > member of (wrasse)

old wife1585

merle1601

rockfish1605

cook fish1611

wrasse1686

wroth1750

bergle1795

partridge1890

bluehead1919

1585 J. White in Brit. Mus. Dept. of Prints & Drawings 199.a.3 (L.B.3 (125)) Masunnehockeo. The olde wyfe, 2. foote in length.

1588 T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia sig. D iij There are also..Oldwiues; Mullets; Plaice.

1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f.32 Of flat [fish there are] Brets, Turbets, Dories,..Oldwife, Hake.

1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xix. 184 Old wives (because of their mumping and soure countenance) are as dainty and wholesome of substance, as they are large in body.

1736 Philos. Trans. 1735–6 (Royal Soc.) 39 112 Turdus oculo radiato. Guaperva maxima caudata... The Old Wife. This is a Fish of the compressed sharp-back'd kind, and is tolerable good Meat.

1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. iii. 456 A saying..that an Old Wife is the best of fish, and worst of flesh.

1789 A. Phillip Voy. Botany Bay 281 This fish..was called by the sailors the Old Wife.

1847 W. B. Carpenter Zool.: Systematic Acct. II. 41 Several species [of Labridæ] are found upon our own coasts..known among the fishermen by the name of ‘Old Wives of the Sea’.

1881 Proc. Linn. Soc. New S. Wales 5 309 Enoplasus armatus..‘Old Wife’ of the Sydney Fishermen.

1906 D. G. Stead Fishes Austral. 105 The Old Wife..is purely an Australian fish and is found principally in the waters of New South Wales and Victoria.

1936 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles (ed. 2) 41 Of the British species the Black Sea Bream.., or Old Wife.., is met with frequently in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic.

1950 Jrnl. Educ. Sociol. 24 224 Near the center of town on St. Thomas, is the old open market place... Here you will see the straps of bright-hued fish with such odd names:..old wife, yellow-tail, blue fish, etc.

1983 B. Hutchins & M. Thompson Marine & Estuarine Fishes S.-W. Austral. 44 Old Wife... Named after its habit of ‘grunting like an old wife’ when caught.

3. North American. The long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis. Cf. oldsquaw n. at old adj. Compounds 4. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > clangula hyemalis (old squaw)

hound1623

old wife1634

swallow-tailed duck1678

swallow-tailed sheldrake1678

calloo1793

south-southerly1814

oldsquaw1834

long-tail1837

granny1888

sea pheasant1893

1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect i. viii. 31 The Oldwives, be a foule that never leave tatling day or night, something bigger than a Ducke.

1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 147 Old Wives are a black and white pied Gull with extraordinary long Wings, and a golden colour'd Bill.

1838 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. IV. 105 Although, like all sea-ducks, the ‘Old Wife’ swims deeply, it moves with..grace and celerity.

1894 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. III 654 Old squaw and old wife are two..names of the Long-tailed Duck.

1974 C. S. Houston To Arctic 184 Old-Squaw Duck, Clangula hyemalis. Richardson, following the usage of Pennant, called this the ‘Long-tailed Duck’, while the Hudson's Bay residents called it ‘Old Wife’ or ‘Swallow-tailed Duck’.

4. Scottish. A cap or cowl to prevent a chimney from smoking.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > chimney > chimney-pot

pig1683

pot1785

can1805

chimney-can1805

old wife1823

old woman1829

chimney-pot1830

chimney cap1847

tallboy1884

1823 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. Mar. 289/2 An ‘old-wife’, which had lately been raised to this elevated station, with the view of causing the smoke to vent more freely.

1832 Chambers' Edinb. Jrnl. 26 May 130/2 Nothing to be seen from the windows but..the chimney-stacks and old wives.

1913 F. Niven Ellen Adair vi. 73 The February wind whirled the chimney tops..the cowled ones, called ‘auld wives’ or ‘auld wives' mutches’, because of their likeness to such old dames.

Derivatives

old-ˈwifely adj. resembling or characteristic of an old wife.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [adjective]

old-wivish1535

anilea1624

grannamish1673

old-woman-like1721

tabby1748

old-womanish1764

old-wifelya1799

old-womanly1826

blue rinse1955

a1799 D. Simpson Plea for Relig. (1803) 147 Opposed by a large number of old-wifely Bishops.

1871 Atlantic Monthly May 655/2 A certain old-wifely air in much of the advice detracts little from its authority.

2002 I. Zuber Salt 320 Anna's mother had had little use for Mecie, what with..what Tina called her old-wifely ways.

old-ˈwifery n. the habits or beliefs associated with old wives; an instance of these.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun] > state of being

anility1623

beldamship1633

anileness1727

tabbyhood1797

old-wifery1827

old womanism1828

old-womanry1828

old-womanliness1877

old-ladyhood1888

old-womanishness1914

1827 T. Carlyle tr. J. P. F. Richter in German Romance III. 177 This notion he named stuff and old-wifery.

1842 T. P. Thompson Exercises III. 55 It is manifestly an old-wifery, a noodleism, and all the world for fifty years has held it so.

1999 L. Watson Jacobson's Organ 101 Getting anything that smacks of folklore and old-wifery accepted as science is not easy.

old-ˈwivish adj. (also old-wifish) associated with or typical of old wives; old-wivish fable = old wives' tale n. at sense 1b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [adjective]

old-wivish1535

anilea1624

grannamish1673

old-woman-like1721

tabby1748

old-womanish1764

old-wifelya1799

old-womanly1826

blue rinse1955

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Tim. iv. B As for vngoostly and olde wyuesh fables, cast them awaye.

?1544 E. Allen tr. A. Alesius Auctorite Word of God sig. Fj^v Se that thou banisch & contemne all vnholy and old wyuissh fables.

1857 J. W. Donaldson Christian Orthodoxy i. 7 1 Tim. iv. 7:..Deprecate the irreligious and oldwifish mythologies.

2001 Re: RF Grounds for HF Portable & VHF/UHF Stations? in rec.radio.amateur.antenna (Usenet newsgroup) 16 Apr. RF grounding of rigs is sillyness and old wivish as far as I'm concerned.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	old wife
释义	old wifen. Brit. /ˌəʊl(d) ˈwʌɪf/, U.S. /ˈoʊl(d) ˈwaɪf/ Inflections: Plural old wives. Forms: see old adj. and wife n. In senses 2, 3 usually with capital initials. Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: old adj., wife n. Etymology: < old adj. + wife n. Compare Dutch oud wijf (also used for the fish Balistes vetula, compare sense 2), Old High German altwīb (German Altweib (now only in compounds)).With sense 1b compare Dutch oudwijfs fabel , oudewijvenpraat , German Altweiberfabel , Altweibermärchen . It is possible that the construction in English may originally have shown the genitive singular of wife n., as the forms at this date are ambiguous (compare also old woman's tale n. at old woman n. 1b). With the derivatives compare Middle Dutch outwivelijc, altwijflijk (Dutch oudwijfelijk), Dutch oudwijfsch, early modern German altweibisch (1525), altweiblich (1523). 1. a. An old woman. In later use (also): a person who tells old wives' tales. (Formerly sometimes as one word.) Now usually derogatory. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun] old wifeeOE old womanOE trota1375 carlinec1375 cronec1386 vecke1390 monea1393 hagc1400 ribibec1405 aunt?a1425 crate14.. witchc1475 mauda1500 mackabroine1546 grandam?1550 grannam1565 old lady1575 beldam1580 lucky1629 granny1634 patriarchess1639 runta1652 harridan1699 grimalkin1798 mama1810 tante1815 wifie1823 maw1826 old dear1836 tante1845 Mother Bunch1847 douairière1869 dowager1870 veteraness1880 old trout1897 tab1909 bag1924 crow1925 ma1932 Skinny Liz1940 old bag1947 old boot1958 tannie1958 LOL1960 eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 18/2 Anus, alduuif. OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xviii. 13 Sceal ic nu eald wif cennan? c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 528 (MED) Hwil þu swenchest..scheome teke þet sar wið þe alde wifes scheome creft, þe cunnen of þet wasið. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 219 A guod ald wyf porchaceþ more of heuene..biddinde, þanne ssolde do a þouzond knyȝtes..be hare armes. c1395 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 1000 A fouler wight ther may no man deuyse; Agayn the knyght this old wyf gan ryse. c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 986 (MED) Thane answers sir Arthure to þat alde wyf. ?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 2^v An Alde wife, Annus, Anicula, vetula. 1598 R. Bernard tr. Terence Heautontimoroumenos ii. iii, in Terence in Eng. 212 The old wife shee spun the woufe. 1615 Bp. J. Hall No Peace with Rome xx, in Recoll. Treat. 881 Some superstitious olde wife, or some idle and silly cloisterer. 1641 Marianvs xvii. 157 The old Wives say, they that feed with the Divell must have a long spoone. 1737 A. Ramsay Coll. Scots Prov. v. 10 Auld Wives and Bairns make Fools of Physicians. 1756 M. Calderwood Lett. & Jrnls. (1884) xiii. 332 But I find that those I could have wagered upon one as bigotted in every point as any old wife of what religion soever. a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 99 An auld wife's tongue's a feckless matter. 1814 Ld. Byron Let. 24 Mar. (1975) IV. 85 They [sc. Coleridge, Southey, Wordsworth] know nothing of the world... They are mere old wives. 1834 W. A. Caruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. xvii. 188 What a stump speech he could make, if he would only turn his hand to it, instead of wasting his wind here among the old wives! 1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xiii. 213 I don't know whether he's a liar or only an old wife. 1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song ii. 120 Damn the fears, that's nothing but an old wife's gabble for fearing the bairns. 1992 M. Clynes White Rose Murder (BNC) 84 The ghosts of the dead came back to their resting place (or so the old wives say). 2000 M. Herman Purely Belter 22 Jesus, I wish we'd had that cup o'tea the old wife back there offered us. I'm gasping. b. old wives' tale n. (also old wife's tale, old wives' story, old wives' fable) an unlikely story; a widely held or traditional belief now thought to be incorrect or erroneous. Cf. earlier old woman's tale n. at old woman n. 1b. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > a false or foolish tale > [noun] > as told by old women old woman's talea1425 old wives' talea1680 1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Tim. iv. 7 Cast awaye vngostly and olde wyves fables[a1425 Wycliffite, L.V. elde wymmenus fablis; 1535 Coverdale, olde wyuesh fables]. 1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes Ded. 1 Many..suppose all that is reported..to be mere trifles and old wyves tales. a1593 C. Marlowe Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. C2 Thinkst thou that Faustus is so fond, To imagine, that after this life there is any paine? Tush these are trifles and meere olde wiues tales. a1637 B. Jonson Tale of Tub Prol. 68 in Wks. (1640) III Antick Proverbs, drawne from Whitson-Lord's, And their Authorities, at Wakes and Ales, With countrey precedents, and old Wives Tales. a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 78 So simple were those Times, when a grave Sage Could with an Old-wive's-Tale instruct the Age. 1708 Ld. Shaftesbury Let. conc. Enthusiasm 9 A solid System of old Wives Storys. 1739 T. C. Pagett Kind of Dial. in Hudibrasticks 10 Right and Wrong are old Wives Tales, And Nothing's bad but that which fails. 1848 J. R. Planché Extravaganzas (1879) III. ii. iv. 221 She makes a jest of old wives' stories. 1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 45 These are the sort of old wives' tales which he sings and recites to us. 1915 Sci. Monthly Oct. 80 We may pass by the objectors of the class who believe that vaccinated persons cough like cows and bellow like bulls; these objections go into the limbo of old wives' fables. 1942 Amer. Hist. Rev 47 554 In handling his subject the author wisely has resisted the temptation to make a rag-bag collection of folklore and old wives' tales. 2000 Guardian 5 Sept. ii. 16/4 The old wives' tale about tequila's mind-altering properties comes from its proximity to mezcal, which in turn has been confused with mescaline. 2. Any of various mostly deep-bodied edible marine fishes, spec. (a) a wrasse; (b) the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus; (c) the menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus; (d) the black sea bream, Spondyliosoma cantharus; (e) the queen triggerfish, Balistes vetula; (f) a small brown and white striped fish with pink fins, Enoplosus armatus (family Enoplosidae), of Australasian coasts. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Sparidae (sea-breams) > [noun] > member of (sea-bream) baleenc1185 sea-bream1530 old wife1585 pargo1589 ruffle1601 sargon1601 sargus1605 sea-liver1611 ruffe1647 silver-fish1703 porgy1725 brassem1731 red gilt-head1776 sparoid1842 panga1902 the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Tetraodontiformes (puffers) > [noun] > family Balistidae (trigger-fish) old wife1585 trigger-fish1849 queen triggerfish1906 the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > order Clupeiformes > [noun] > family Clupeidae and herrings > clupea serrata (ale-wife) old wife1585 alewife1633 river herring1842 kyak1849 Taunton turkey1851 the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > order Clupeiformes > [noun] > family Clupeidae and herrings > brevoortia tyrannus (menhaden) old wife1585 yellowtaila1622 whiting1735 shadine1782 hardhead1792 menhaden1792 mossbunker1792 bony fish1815 pauhagen1833 pogy1840 green-tailed shad1884 schoolie1891 the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Labrioidei (wrasse) > [noun] > family Labridae > member of (wrasse) old wife1585 merle1601 rockfish1605 cook fish1611 wrasse1686 wroth1750 bergle1795 partridge1890 bluehead1919 1585 J. White in Brit. Mus. Dept. of Prints & Drawings 199.a.3 (L.B.3 (125)) Masunnehockeo. The olde wyfe, 2. foote in length. 1588 T. Hariot Briefe Rep. Virginia sig. D iij There are also..Oldwiues; Mullets; Plaice. 1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f.32 Of flat [fish there are] Brets, Turbets, Dories,..Oldwife, Hake. 1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xix. 184 Old wives (because of their mumping and soure countenance) are as dainty and wholesome of substance, as they are large in body. 1736 Philos. Trans. 1735–6 (Royal Soc.) 39 112 Turdus oculo radiato. Guaperva maxima caudata... The Old Wife. This is a Fish of the compressed sharp-back'd kind, and is tolerable good Meat. 1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. iii. 456 A saying..that an Old Wife is the best of fish, and worst of flesh. 1789 A. Phillip Voy. Botany Bay 281 This fish..was called by the sailors the Old Wife. 1847 W. B. Carpenter Zool.: Systematic Acct. II. 41 Several species [of Labridæ] are found upon our own coasts..known among the fishermen by the name of ‘Old Wives of the Sea’. 1881 Proc. Linn. Soc. New S. Wales 5 309 Enoplasus armatus..‘Old Wife’ of the Sydney Fishermen. 1906 D. G. Stead Fishes Austral. 105 The Old Wife..is purely an Australian fish and is found principally in the waters of New South Wales and Victoria. 1936 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles (ed. 2) 41 Of the British species the Black Sea Bream.., or Old Wife.., is met with frequently in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic. 1950 Jrnl. Educ. Sociol. 24 224 Near the center of town on St. Thomas, is the old open market place... Here you will see the straps of bright-hued fish with such odd names:..old wife, yellow-tail, blue fish, etc. 1983 B. Hutchins & M. Thompson Marine & Estuarine Fishes S.-W. Austral. 44 Old Wife... Named after its habit of ‘grunting like an old wife’ when caught. 3. North American. The long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis. Cf. oldsquaw n. at old adj. Compounds 4. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > clangula hyemalis (old squaw) hound1623 old wife1634 swallow-tailed duck1678 swallow-tailed sheldrake1678 calloo1793 south-southerly1814 oldsquaw1834 long-tail1837 granny1888 sea pheasant1893 1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect i. viii. 31 The Oldwives, be a foule that never leave tatling day or night, something bigger than a Ducke. 1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 147 Old Wives are a black and white pied Gull with extraordinary long Wings, and a golden colour'd Bill. 1838 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. IV. 105 Although, like all sea-ducks, the ‘Old Wife’ swims deeply, it moves with..grace and celerity. 1894 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. III 654 Old squaw and old wife are two..names of the Long-tailed Duck. 1974 C. S. Houston To Arctic 184 Old-Squaw Duck, Clangula hyemalis. Richardson, following the usage of Pennant, called this the ‘Long-tailed Duck’, while the Hudson's Bay residents called it ‘Old Wife’ or ‘Swallow-tailed Duck’. 4. Scottish. A cap or cowl to prevent a chimney from smoking. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > chimney > chimney-pot pig1683 pot1785 can1805 chimney-can1805 old wife1823 old woman1829 chimney-pot1830 chimney cap1847 tallboy1884 1823 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. Mar. 289/2 An ‘old-wife’, which had lately been raised to this elevated station, with the view of causing the smoke to vent more freely. 1832 Chambers' Edinb. Jrnl. 26 May 130/2 Nothing to be seen from the windows but..the chimney-stacks and old wives. 1913 F. Niven Ellen Adair vi. 73 The February wind whirled the chimney tops..the cowled ones, called ‘auld wives’ or ‘auld wives' mutches’, because of their likeness to such old dames. Derivatives old-ˈwifely adj. resembling or characteristic of an old wife. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [adjective] old-wivish1535 anilea1624 grannamish1673 old-woman-like1721 tabby1748 old-womanish1764 old-wifelya1799 old-womanly1826 blue rinse1955 a1799 D. Simpson Plea for Relig. (1803) 147 Opposed by a large number of old-wifely Bishops. 1871 Atlantic Monthly May 655/2 A certain old-wifely air in much of the advice detracts little from its authority. 2002 I. Zuber Salt 320 Anna's mother had had little use for Mecie, what with..what Tina called her old-wifely ways. old-ˈwifery n. the habits or beliefs associated with old wives; an instance of these. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun] > state of being anility1623 beldamship1633 anileness1727 tabbyhood1797 old-wifery1827 old womanism1828 old-womanry1828 old-womanliness1877 old-ladyhood1888 old-womanishness1914 1827 T. Carlyle tr. J. P. F. Richter in German Romance III. 177 This notion he named stuff and old-wifery. 1842 T. P. Thompson Exercises III. 55 It is manifestly an old-wifery, a noodleism, and all the world for fifty years has held it so. 1999 L. Watson Jacobson's Organ 101 Getting anything that smacks of folklore and old-wifery accepted as science is not easy. old-ˈwivish adj. (also old-wifish) associated with or typical of old wives; old-wivish fable = old wives' tale n. at sense 1b. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [adjective] old-wivish1535 anilea1624 grannamish1673 old-woman-like1721 tabby1748 old-womanish1764 old-wifelya1799 old-womanly1826 blue rinse1955 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Tim. iv. B As for vngoostly and olde wyuesh fables, cast them awaye. ?1544 E. Allen tr. A. Alesius Auctorite Word of God sig. Fj^v Se that thou banisch & contemne all vnholy and old wyuissh fables. 1857 J. W. Donaldson Christian Orthodoxy i. 7 1 Tim. iv. 7:..Deprecate the irreligious and oldwifish mythologies. 2001 Re: RF Grounds for HF Portable & VHF/UHF Stations? in rec.radio.amateur.antenna (Usenet newsgroup) 16 Apr. RF grounding of rigs is sillyness and old wivish as far as I'm concerned. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.eOE
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