Biosophilia

Husband

husband, n.

I. 1. The master of a house, the male head of a household. Obs.

c1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xx. 28 Ne sitte e on am fyrme~stan setlum e læs e..se husbonda [Hatton MS. husbunde] hate e arisan. a1100 O.E. Chron. an. 1048 An his manna wolde wician æt anes bundan huse his unances and ewundode one husbundon and se husbunda ofsloh one oerne. c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 165 Nis e gist siker of e husebonde, ne noer of oer. a1240 Sawles Warde in Cott. Hom. 247 e husebonde, at is wit, warne his hus.

2. a. A man joined to a woman by marriage. Correlative of wife.

c1290 Beket 193 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 112 Is wif gret Ioie made with hire housebonde. a1300 Cursor M. 10158 Anna..ioachim had til husband. 1382 WYCLIF Matt. i. 16 Joseph, the husbond of Marie. c1450 Merlin 20 Thyn hosbonde and thow were at debate. 1548-9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Matrimony, Wilt thou haue this man to thy wedded houseband? 1590 SHAKES. Com. Err. III. ii. 68 Thou hast no husband yet, nor I no wife: Giue me thy hand. 1631-5 W. SALTONSTALL Picturæ Loquentes Fvij, Her mouth is drawne into so narrow a compasse that she will not speake a broad word, but calls her husband hisband. 1638 FORD Fancies V. ii, Hisband, stand to thy tackling, hisband like a man of mettle. 1765 BLACKSTONE Comm. I. xv. (1809) 442 By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law. 1842 TENNYSON Locksley Hall 47 As the husband is, the wife is.

b. transf. The male of a pair of the lower animals; a male animal kept for breeding.

1607 TOPSELL Four-f. Beasts (1658) 47 A Bull is the husband of a Cow, and ring-leader of the herd. 1697 DRYDEN Virg. Georg. III. 253 Whom to reserve for Husband of the Herd. 1894 H. DRUMMOND Ascent Man 379 The apathy and estrangement between husband and wife in the animal world.

c. Applied to the male in dicious plants; also to a tree forming the prop or support of a vine. Obs.

1553 T. WILSON Rhet. (1567) 24a, Of trees, wherin..there is found Mariage, with some manifeste difference of bothe kyndes, that excepte the housebande Tree, doe leane..vpon the women Trees..Thei would elles..waxe barraine. 1796 PEGGE Anonym. (1809) 59 The husband, as we may call it, being a tree of some kind, and I suppose the elm chiefly, the grape could never ripen kindly.

II. 3. a. One who tills and cultivates the soil; a cultivator, tiller, farmer, husbandman. In early northern use, app. applied spec. to a manorial tenant, the villanus or villein of other districts. Cf. HUSBANDLAND. Obs.

c1220 Bestiary 388 Fox is hire to name..husebondes hire haten, for hire harm dedes. [1239 Cart. Mon. de Rameseia I. 426 Gilbertus Copsi..dat domino Abbati dimidiam marcam, ut Henricus Koc filius suus fiat housebonde de sex acris terrae..Abbatis in Depedale.] c1290 Beket 2428 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 176 Of seriaunz and of squiers and oere house~bondes i-nowe; And e simple men of e londe. c1330 R. BRUNNE Chron. (1810) 168 Do com..burgeis & merchant, & knyght & squiere..hosbond & sergant, & tak of am homage. c1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Julian 127 A housband a-gane our lay Telyt his land one sownday. 1494 FABYAN Chron. VII. 421 In this yere..fell so excedynge rayne in the monethes of Iulii & August, that husbondys myght not brynge in theyr lytle store of corne. 1513 DOUGLAS Æneis X. vi. 53 The routis of the lauboreris Or rurell husbandis. 1532-3 Act 24 Hen. VIII, c. 10 Preamb., All the Tillers, Husbondes and Sowers of the Erthe. 1697 DRYDEN Virg. Georg. II. 578 When Husbands have survey'd the last Degree, And utmost Files of Plants, and order'd ev'ry Tree.

b. In later times esp. with qualifying epithet as in 5. Obs.

c1380 WYCLIF Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 98 e kyngdom of hevene, sei Crist is lyke to a good huseboonde. 1540-1 ELYOT Image Gov. (1556) 153b, The Romaines beeyng good husbondes..overseeyng theyr tyllage and husbondry. 1613-16 W. BROWNE Brit. Past. I. iii. Wks. 1772 I. 81 With shrubs that cloy ill husband's meadow-ground. 1723 Carew's Cornwall Life (1769) p. xvi, He was accounted..the greatest Husband, and most excellent Manager of Bees in Cornwall. 1733 TULL Horse-Hoing Husb. Pref. 5 The Proverb..That once in seven Years, the worst Husbands have the best Corn.

4. a. The manager of a household or establishment; a housekeeper; a steward. Also a title of various public functionaries: see quots. Obs. exc. in spec. applications.

c1450 Bk. Curtasye 574 in Babees Bk., Now speke y wylle of tresurere, Husbonde and houswyf he is in fere. 1475 SIR J. PASTON (to his Mother) in P. Lett. No. 762 III. 139, I purpose to leeffe alle heer, and come home to yow, and be yowr hosbonde and balyff. a1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 69 This hathe bene proved by many olde yeres husbandes and yett myght there be made alweyes of a busshell xxix loves. 1613 SIR H. FINCH Law (1636) 240 The King hath a proper Court..for all things touching his reuenues, called the Exchequer. The Judges whereof are called Barons, or housebands for the Kings Reuenue. 1695 Act 7 & 8 Will. III, c. 13 §2 It shall..be Lawful for the Royal African Company of England, to bring to His Majesties Tower of London..such Gold as shall be Imported by them, the Husband of the said Company first making Oath before the Warden [etc.]. 1737 List Govt. Officers in Chamberlayne's St. Gt. Brit. II. 65 Officers..belonging to the Custom-House..The Husband for receiving and taking up all Goods consign'd from the Plantations on Account of the Duty of 4 and half per Cent. 1833 Rep. Sel. Committee Munic. Corporat. 319 Is there any other fee paid to you as town's husband [at Hull]? [1886 Times 3 Aug. 6/3 ‘Husband to the East India Company’, a functionary whose duty seems to have been to look after the interests of his employers in their relations with the Custom House.]

b. ship's husband: an agent appointed by the owners to attend to the business of a ship while in port, esp. to attend to her stores, equipment, and repairs, and see that the ship is in all respects well found. Now little used, the duties being generally performed by a ‘Marine Superintendent’.

1730-6 BAILEY (folio), Husband of a Ship, a Person whose Office it is to see a Ship's Cargoe entered, landed, laid up in Warehouses, etc. for the Merchants. 1756 ROLT Dict. Trade, Husband of a ship, or the ship's husband. 1774 COLMAN Man of Business III. 159 The Ship's husband desires to speak with him. 1800 COLQUHOUN Comm. Thames 629 To furnish an exact statement of disbursements to the Ship's Husband. 1839 36 Years Seaf. Life 44 One of the brothers, who acted the part of working partner, or as it was called ship's husband. 1858 SIMMONDS Dict. Trade, Ship's husband, a part owner, or other person appointed as a manager to look after and provide stores, provisions, or assistance for a ship when in port. 1878 SIR F. KELLY in Law Rep. 4 Exch. Div. 22 A ship's husband has the authority of the ship's owners to procure a charter party, and to make contracts for their benefit.

5. a. With qualifying epithet: One who manages his household, or his affairs or business in general, well or ill, profitably or wastefully, etc. Most commonly good husband: One who manages his affairs with skill and thrift; a saving, frugal, or provident man; an economist. (Cf. HOUSEWIFE.) Now rare or arch.

c1510 Robin Hood I. 180 Or elles thou hast ben a sorry housband. 1553 T. WILSON Rhet. 67 When I call..a pynche penye, a good husbande, a thriftye man. 1597-8 BACON Ess., Honour (Arb.) 68 A man is an ill husband of his Honour that entereth into any action, the failing where~in may disgrace him more than the carrying of it through can Honour him. 1656 JER. TAYLOR Let. in Evelyn's Mem. (1857) III. 79 You see what a good husband I am of my paper and ink. 1719 DE FOE Crusoe I. xvi, I had been so good a husband of my rum, that I had a great deal left. 1895 M. R. JAMES Abbey St. Edmund at Bury 119 The next abbot was a bad husband to the Abbey.

b. absol. = good husband in prec. Obs.

c1400 Gamelyn 13 He had ben wide-where but non husbonde he was. 1530 PALSGR. 233/1 Husbande, a thrivyng man, mesnagier. 1577 FENTON Gold. Ep. 129 If hee bee a husbande of that hee hath, they will say hee is couetous.

6. attrib. and Comb. a. in sense 2; (a) appositive, as husband-lover, -soldier, -tree; (b) objective and obj. gen., as husband-beater, -catching, -hunter, -hunting, -seeking, -slayer; (c) husband-ripe a., ripe for a husband, of marriageable age. b. in sense 3, as husband-field, a cultivated field; husband-town, a farm; husband weed, agricultural or rustic clothing. See also HUSBANDLAND, -LIKE, -MAN.

1892 Daily News 2 May 2/4 The en-tout-cas is..not quite so large this year as it has been in some previous seasons, and the long handles facetiously called ‘*husband~beaters’, have quite disappeared.

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1899 Daily News 26 Sept. 7/5 One of the greatest reasons of my contempt for them is their *husband-catching propensities. 1949 M. MEAD Male & Female i. 7 In some societies it is girls for whom parents must collect a dowry or make husband-catching magic.
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1811 SCOTT Don Roderick xxxix, The sable land-flood from some swamp obscure, That poisons the glad *husband-field with dearth.
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1905 To-Day 8 Mar. 173/1 She will demand a better article than the mere *husband-hunter has been able to stand out for. 1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Jan. 40/4 Arabella Trefoil is a husband-hunter of shameless duplicity and greed.
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1771 SMOLLETT Humph. Cl. 15 July, I must make you acquainted with my sister Tabby's progress in *husband~hunting. 1823 BYRON Juan XI. lxxxix, Some sage husband-hunting countess.
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1682 A. BEHN City-Heiress 20 Oh hideous, a *Husband-Lover!
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1557-8 T. PHAER Æneid VII. Siijb, One doughter..Now *husbandripe, now wedlockable ful, of lawful yeeres.
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1899 Daily News 26 Sept. 7/5 Their object in life is..plain *husband seeking.
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1897 Edin. Rev. Apr. 458 The Danaides, spring-nymphs as well as *husband-slayers.
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c1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Ninian 867 e knycht..In til a *housband ton at nycht To slepe and ese hyme can dycht. c1470 HARDING Chron. ccxl. note (Harl. MS.) Many goode villages and husbonde townys.
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1553 *Housebande tree [see 2c].
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c1475 Rauf Coilear 593 Ane man in *husband weid.
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c. Combinations with husbands', in specialized senses: as husbands' boat, train, etc., in former times a means of transport run chiefly for the convenience of men wishing to join their wives on holiday, esp. applied to ships, etc., run on Saturday; husband's tea colloq., very weak tea.

1869 Porcupine XI. 172/2 Passengers by the ‘husbands' boat’ are more heavily laden with provisions. 1870 London Soc. XVIII. 170 The Husbands' boat can carry lovers too! 1909 Daily Chron. 24 July 8/6 The New Palace Steamers announce that their p.s. Koh-i-noor will be making the ‘husband's boat’ trip to-day as usual.

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1874 HOTTEN Slang Dict. s.v. Water-bewitched, Sometimes very weak tea is called ‘husband's tea’. 1886 A. HORNBLOW tr. Normand's Splashes from Parisian Ink-Pot 163 A special train, the husband's train, would permit him to arrive at Tréport the same night.
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d. husband-wife a., pertaining to or involving a husband and his wife.

1956 J. M. MOGEY Family & Neighbourhood 61 ‘My wife trusts me’ indicates excellent husband-wife adjustment. 1959 Encounter July 73/1 [This book] is by a husband-wife duet of French journalists. 1960 Guardian 14 Apr. 8/6 The quintessential husband-wife relationship. 1965 Language XLI. 124 The husband-wife team of Pavle and Milka Ivi.

© 1989 Oxford English Dictionary