cara sposan.
/ˌkɑːrə ˈspəʊzə/, /ˌkɑːrə ˈspəʊsə/, U.S. /ˌkɑrə ˈspoʊzə/, /ˌkɑrə ˈspoʊsə/ ‘Dear wife’; a wife or close female companion. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] > of or to a spouse, parent, or close companion > of or to wife
cara sposa?1760
wifie1776
wifekin1831
wifelkin1851
wifelet1857
wifeling1861
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife > dear wife
cara sposa?1760
?1760–5 D. Garrick Let. (1963) III. 1268 Preventing my fighting yard arm & yard arm wth Capt Hood (which by ye bye I had rather do, than lick the whiskers of his cara sposa).
1772 Public Ledger 5 Aug. The military creatures of that order [sc. Maccaronies]..at night retire to the Bird Cage Walk, with some male cara-sposa, there to practice those infernal rites.
1793 W. B. Stevens Jrnl. 13 Mar. (1965) i. 72 His Wife..handsome enough for a Cara Sposa.
1821 P. B. Shelley Let. 22 Oct. (1964) II. 363 La Guiccioli his [sc. Byron's] cara sposa who attends him impatiently.
1869 Local Preachers' Mag. Dec. 367/1 The doctor listened with much patience to all the ways and means that had been devised by the distressed and affectionate husband to reclaim his cara sposa.
1904 B. Capes Extraordinary Confessions Diana Please (ed. 2) xxix. 288 The king—Nelson and his cara sposa being gone ashore—was looking idly out seawards.
1921 Forbes (New S. Wales) Advocate 13 May Remarking that his cara sposa Margherita and their baby Assuntina..must be provided for.
2000 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 4 Mar. 60 His much-loved cara sposa, his wife Rita.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.?1760