goodwife
/ˈɡʊdwʌɪf
/noun (plural goodwives) archaic, chiefly Scottish
The female head of a household.Farmers and artisans, goodwives and slaves - ‘the people most exposed to fortune's slings and arrows’ - adhered to an ‘ethic of fortune’ that violated Protestant orthodoxy....
- As Callan looked at her, she realised how tired and overworked the goodwife was, and - although she had never noticed this before - how old.
- A later purchaser was ‘George Nicoll,’ who bought it from a goodwife (whose name is illegible) for 6d.