Meanings
nounwidowerhood (usually uncountable, plural widowerhoods)
plural widowerhoods
- uncountableusuallyThe state or period of being a widower.
The poor General was in despair! To fall in love at fifty-five, and with such vehemence, is indeed a misfortune! And add to that his widowerhood, his children, his ruined property, his debts, and the woman with whom he had fallen in love! Though Mlle.
1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, chapter III, in The Gambler, translated by C. J. Hogarth^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Gambler_(1867)/III)
Origin
- Englishwidower
- Proto-Indo-European*keyt-
- Proto-Germanic*haiduz
- Englishwidowerhood
Translations
Finnish leskeys
- leskeysThe period of being a widower
French veuvage
- veuvageThe period of being a widower
German Witwertum
- WitwertumThe period of being a widower
Greek χηρεία
- χηρεία (chireía)The period of being a widower
Hungarian özvegység
- özvegységThe period of being a widower
Irish baintreachas
- baintreachasThe period of being a widower
Māori pouarutanga
- pouarutangaThe period of being a widower
Polish wdowieństwo
- wdowieństwoThe period of being a widower
Portuguese viuvez
- viuvezThe period of being a widower
Swahili ujane
- ujaneThe period of being a widower
Cite this entry
APA
widowerhood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/widowerhood
MLA
“widowerhood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/widowerhood. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “widowerhood,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/widowerhood.
Source: widowerhood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.