wifely

• wively (obsolete)

From Middle English wifly, wifli, from Old English wīflīc (“womanly, wifely”), from Proto-Germanic *wībalīkaz (“wifely”), equivalent to wife +‎ -ly. Cognate with Scots wyfelie (“womanly, wifely”), Dutch wijflijk, wijfelijk, German weiblich (“feminine, female”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaɪfli/

wifely (comparative wifelier, superlative wifeliest)

1. Of, befitting, pertaining to, or characteristic of a wife.
   • 1869, Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, Part 2, Chapter 38,

     Being a domestic man, John decidedly missed the wifely attentions he had been accustomed to receive, but as he adored his babies, he cheerfully relinquished his comfort for a time, supposing with masculine ignorance that peace would soon be restored.

   • 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, “Unmarried,”

     A woman who does not nose into the domestic arrangements of the place she is going to occupy gives the first hint, for a woman indifferent to the heating, furnishing, plumbing, cooking utensils of her home is not wifely.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:

     I endeavoured to soothe. “You can't blame yourself.” “Yes, I can.” “It isn't your fault.” “I invited Wilbert Cream here.” “Merely from a wifely desire to do [your husband] a bit of good.”

• uxorial
• wifey

• unwifely
• wifeliness