Wife vs. Misstress: What's the Difference?

Wife and Misstress Definitions

A woman joined to another person in marriage; a female spouse.

To stress incorrectly.

A misstressed syllable

A married woman, especially in relation to her spouse.

The Fisherman and His Wife

The female of a pair of mated animals.

A new wife for the gander is introduced into the pen.

(Scotland) woman.

To marry (a woman)

A woman; an adult female; - now used in literature only in certain compounds and phrases, as alewife, fishwife, goodwife, and the like.

On the green he saw sitting a wife.

The lawful consort of a man; a woman who is united to a man in wedlock; a woman who has a husband; a married woman; - correlative of husband.

Let every one you . . . so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

A married woman; a man's partner in marriage