A woman whose husband died and did not remarrie. The „king`s widow“ was the one whose deceased husband had been the king`s tenant as capite; She could not remarry without royal permission. Middle English widewe, from Old English wuduwe; Similar to Old High German wituwa widow, Latin vidua, Sanskrit vidhavä, Latin -videre n. A woman whose husband died while married to him and who has not remarried since. A divorced woman whose ex-husband dies is not a widow, except for the purposes of certain social security benefits that can be traced back to the ex-husband. These sample sentences are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word „widow.“ The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. before the 12th. Century, in the sense of widow 1a. A single woman whose husband died. 2.

In the doctrine, the widow is an addition to a woman who is not married and whose husband has died. The addition of Spinster is given to a woman who has never been married. Lovel. on Wills, 269. See supplement. As for the rights of a widow, seq Dower.