English
huswifely
Adjective

huswifely

  1. (archaic) Like or of a huswife; capable; economical; prudent.
    • circa 1528 Thomas Wyatt (poet), Tho. Wyatis Translatyon of Plutarch Boke, Moralia, London: Richard Pynson,
      Besydes that it is false that vnac[t]yfe men lede a quiete lyfe for els it must be that the lyfe of women were more quietous than that of men as they that syt watchyng at home occupied in huswifely occupations.
    • 1568, Matthew Parker et al. (translators), Bishops' Bible, Book of Proverbs 12.4,
      A huswifely woman is a crowne vnto her husbande: but she that behaueth her selfe vnhonestly, is as corruption in his bones.
    • 1621, Robert Burton (scholar), The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Henry Cripps, Partition 3, Section 2, Member 5, Subsection 3, pp. 649-650,
      In taking a dowre thou loosest thy liberty, hazardest thine estate; thou hadst better haue taken a good huswifely maid in her smocke.
    • 1816, William Hazlitt, “The Recruiting Officer,” review published in The Examiner (1808–86), 3 March, 1816, in A View of the English Stage; or, A Series of Dramatic Criticisms, London: John Warren, 1821, p. 246,
      We ought not to omit, that she cries her chickens in a good shrill huswifely market-voice, as if she would drive a good bargain with them.
Adverb

huswifely

  1. (archaic) In the manner of a huswife; capably; economically; prudently.
    • 1573, Thomas Tusser, Fiue Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry, London: Richard Tottill, “Enstructions to Huswiferie,”
      This care hath a huswife all daye in her hed,
      that all thing in season be huswifely fed.


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
Offline English dictionary