viuda

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin vidua, following metathesis.

Noun

viuda f (plural viudes)

1. widow (a woman whose husband has died)

Coordinate terms

• viudu

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vidua.

In the Middle Ages, jurists introduced a learned Latin borrowing vídua to replace the inherited Old Catalan form viuva (from a Vulgar Latin *viduva). The current form viuda supposedly emerged as a compromise between the two forms. The masculine form was derived from the feminine. Cf. also Spanish viuda, which may have influenced it.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈbiw.ðə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈviw.ðə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈviw.ða]

Adjective

viuda f sg

1. feminine singular of viudo

Noun

viuda f (plural viudes, masculine viudo)

1. widow
2. eagle ray

   Synonym: milana

Related terms

• vidu

Further reading

• “viuda” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “viuda”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “viuda” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “viuda” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish viuda, vibda, bibda, biuda, from Latin vidua, following metathesis.

The Spanish word may have had some later influence from the Latin in the Middle Ages; compare the strictly popular Old Spanish form viuva, which is the form also found in Portuguese and Old Catalan, deriving from a Latin *viduva.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbjuda/ [ˈbju.ð̞a]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uda
• Syllabification: viu‧da

Noun

viuda f (plural viudas, masculine viudo, masculine plural viudos)

1. widow
2. dowager

Derived terms

• enviudar
• pico de viuda
• viuda negra
• viudedad
• viudez

 

Adjective

viuda

1. feminine singular of viudo

Further reading

• “viudo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28