husband

husband — noun

1. the man a woman has married, and to whom she is legally and socially bound in a

1.nounA1
Definition

the man a woman has married, and to whom she is legally and socially bound in a marriage relationship

Example

My husband Ignacio works at a bank near our apartment.

simple possessive: 'my husband'

Vivek became a loving husband and father soon after university.

collocation: loving husband / devoted husband

Common collocations
  • loving husband
  • devoted husband
  • ex-husband
  • husband and wife
  • future husband
Synonyms
  • spouse

    gender-neutral; preferred in legal and formal contexts

  • partner

    broader; can refer to unmarried couples too

  • bridegroom

    only used on the wedding day; often shortened to 'groom'

Antonyms
  • wife

    the female partner in a marriage

Grammar Patterns

[possessive determiner] husband

husband + of

Common Mistakes

She married with her husband in 2019.
She married her husband in 2019.
In English, 'marry' is transitive and does not take the preposition 'with'.
His husband is a doctor.
Her husband is a doctor.' or 'His husband' is only correct if the speaker is referring to a same-sex marriage where the wife is a man
but to avoid ambiguity, use 'spouse' for gender-neutral contexts.
Idioms

husband and wife

idiom

Two people who are married to each other.

Mia and Tom have been husband and wife for ten years.

The restaurant is run by a husband-and-wife team.

husband — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

While 'husband' refers specifically to a married man, 'spouse' is a gender-neutral term for either member of a married couple and is far more common in legal documents and formal speech. 'Partner' covers a wider range of relationships, including unmarried long-term couples, and is the standard everyday term when the marital status is unknown or irrelevant. 'Bridegroom' (often shortened to 'groom') applies only to the man on his wedding day. For example: 'Her husband works as a teacher' names a specific marital role; 'Please bring your spouse to the company dinner' uses formal gender-neutral language; 'My partner and I moved in together last year' works whether or not they are married; 'The bridegroom looked nervous at the altar' only fits the wedding ceremony.

spouse ↗partner ↗bridegroom

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

Old NorseOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Derived from Old English 'husbonda' (master of a house), itself borrowed from Old Norse 'husbondi' — a compound of 'hus' (house) and 'bondi' (occupier, dweller). The original meaning was 'householder' or 'master of a household'. By Middle English the sense narrowed to 'married man'. The verb meaning 'to manage resources carefully' developed in the 1500s from the idea of running a household prudently.