widowhood
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)
- the time of a woman's life when she is a widowType of time of life
- the state of being a widow who has not remarriedType of marital status
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incessantadjective
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Wid′ow·hood noun
1. The state of being a widow; the time during which a woman is widow; also, rarely, the state of being a widower.
Johnson clung to her memory during a widowhood of more than thirty years.— Leslie Stephen
2. Estate settled on a widow. obsolete “I 'll assure her of her widowhood... in all my lands.” William Shakespeare
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54