husband

Less common meanings

4. 4
   noundatedcountable

   The master of a house; the head of a household or family.

   UsageToday householder or head of the family says this without the double meaning.

   Similarmaster, householder

5. 5
   nounobsoletecountable

   One who tills the soil and works the land; a farmer.

   He is the neatest husband for curious ordering his domestick and field accommodations.

   1681, John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 30 August 1681]”

   The painfull husband plowing up his ground, Shall finde all fret and rust both pikes and shields

   1627, G[eorge] H[akewill], An Apologie of the Power and Prouidence of God in the Gouernment of the World.

   Similarfarmer, tiller, cultivator

   Note

   In older writing the husband is often a laborer on the land rather than a spouse. George Hakewill's Apologie (1627) pictures "the painfull husband plowing up his ground", where painful means painstaking. Spenser's Faerie Queene (1596) credits "husbands toyle" with reviving a withered tree. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

   • Husband historically meant a person who worked the land. en.wiktionary.org
   • George Hakewill wrote the Apologie, published in 1627. en.wikipedia.org
   • Hakewill's Apologie contains the quoted description of a husband ploughing. en.wiktionary.org
   • Painful here has the historical meaning painstaking. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Faerie Queene was written by Edmund Spenser. en.wikisource.org
   • The Faerie Queene first appeared in 1590; Books IV–VI, including this passage, first appeared in 1596. gla.ac.uk
   • The poem uses the words husbands toyle in describing a withered tree flourishing again. en.wikisource.org
6. 6
   nounarchaic

   A prudent or thrifty manager, careful in the use of resources.

   God knows how little time is left me, and may I be a good husband, to improve the short remnant thereof.

   1645, Thomas Fuller, Good Thoughts in Bad Times

   Note

   Here husband names a person by his thrift. Thomas Fuller in 1647 hopes to be "a good husband" of the little time left him. In Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719), Crusoe has been "so good a Husband of my Rum" that plenty remains. The noun now sounds archaic, and the idea lives on in the verb of careful use instead. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Husband can name a prudent or thrifty manager. en.wiktionary.org
   • Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe, first published in 1719. open.edu
   • Crusoe, the narrator, describes his economical management of rum using the quoted phrase and says much remains. gutenberg.org
7. 7
   verbarchaictransitive

   To provide a woman with a husband; to arrange her marriage.

   Thinke you, I am no ſtronger then my Sex Being ſo Father'd, and ſo Husbanded?

   1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”

   Note

   An archaic verb that describes a woman by the marriage made for her. In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1599) it stands as a participle beside fathered: "Thinke you, I am no stronger then my Sex / Being so Father'd, and so Husbanded?" The pairing shows the sense plainly, a woman defined by the men she belongs to. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The verb has the sense of providing a woman with a husband. en.wiktionary.org
   • William Shakespeare wrote Julius Caesar. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
   • The play was first published in the First Folio in 1623. The year 1599 refers to its first performance. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
   • The quotation is accurately worded, with husbanded paired with fathered; Portia speaks it in Act II, scene i. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
   • The pairing refers to the woman's relationships with her father and husband. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
8. 8
   verbobsoletetransitive

   To till, cultivate, or farm land; to nurture growing things.

   Land so trim and rarely husbanded.

   1672, John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 19 May 1672]”

   Note

   The farming verb, now obsolete, takes land itself as its object. John Evelyn's diary of 1672 admires "Land so trim and rarely husbanded," where rarely means "splendidly", not "seldom". It is the verb belonging to the husband who tills. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The obsolete farming verb husband is transitive and can take land as its object. en.wiktionary.org
   • John Evelyn's diary entry for 1672 contains the quoted words expressing admiration for cultivated land; 1672 is the entry year. gutenberg.org
   • The quotation's wording and its characterization as admiration are accurate. gutenberg.org
   • Rarely here means splendidly or exceptionally well. en.wiktionary.org
   • Husband also has the historical noun meaning tiller or husbandman. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   verbrare

   To take on the care of or responsibility for someone or something, accepting it as one's own.
10. 10
    noun

    A large cushion with arms, made to support a person who is sitting up.
11. 11
    nounrare

    The male of a pair of animals, regarded in relation to its mate.
12. 12
    noundialectalUK

    A tree whose upper branches have been cut back to encourage fresh growth; a pollard.