wife; Mrs.; madam; mistress
Meanings
5 senses · 12 examplesnoun
wife of an official (archaic)
archaicUsed in historical contexts to refer to the spouse of a government official.
The county magistrate's wife traveled by sedan chair when going out.
In ancient times, the prefect's wife held a very high status.
noun
mistress of the house (as addressed by servants, archaic)
archaicUsed by servants in traditional households to address the female head of the household.
The maidservants respectfully attended to the mistress.
The housekeeper reported household matters to the mistress.
noun
Mrs.; madam (respectful address for a married woman, often prefixed with husband's surname)
formalCommonly used before a surname to address or refer respectfully to a married woman (e.g., Mrs. Zhang).
Mrs. Zhang is our neighbor.
Hello, Mrs. Wang!
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The lady of the Li family is very kind.
noun
wife (used with a pronoun modifier to refer to someone's wife or one's own wife)
Often preceded by a pronoun (e.g., my wife, his wife). Used when speaking about one's own wife or someone else's wife.
My wife and his wife were originally classmates.
How is your wife's health recently?
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His wife is a doctor.
noun
great-grandmother or great-grandfather (dialect)
dialectUsed in certain dialects to refer to one's great-grandparent.
In our hometown, we call great-grandmother 'taitai'.
Great-grandfather is one hundred years old this year.