wif

Meaning

1. woman

   Ūs becōm dēaþ and forwyrd þurh wīf, and ūs becōm eft līf and hredding þurh wīfmann.

   Death and disaster came to us through a woman [Eve], and then life and salvation came to us through a woman [Mary].

   c. 992, Ælfric, "The Annunciation of St. Mary"

2. female

   Ǣġðer is mann ġe wer ġe wīf.

   A person is either a male or a female.

   c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

3. wife

   Ōsrēd, þe wæs Norþanhymbra cining, æfter wræcsīþe hām cumenum ġelǣht wæs ⁊ ofslagen on XVIII Kƚ Octoƀ ⁊ his līc liġþ æt Tīnamūþe. ⁊ Æþelrēd cining feng tō nīwan wīfe, sēo wæs Ælflēd ġehāten, on III Kƚ Octobr̃.

   Osred, who was king of Northumbrian, was apprehended and slain on the 17th of October after coming home from his exile, and his body lies at Tynemouth. And King Aethelred took a new wife, whose name was Aelfled, on the third of October.

   The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Declension