Widow

Widow

A widow is a woman whose spouse or significant other has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse or significant other has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed. The treatment of widows around the world varies, but unequal benefits and treatment generally received by widows versus widowers globally has spurred an interest in the issue by human rights activists.

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Famous quotes containing the word widow:

    . . . A widow bird sat mourning for her love
    Upon a wintry bough;
    The frozen wind crept on above,
    The freezing stream below.
    Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)

    A widow has two duties of a contradictory nature—she is a mother, and she ought to exert a father’s power.
    HonorĂ© De Balzac (1799–1850)

    Jesus: Senor, the widow Gomez delivered a son this morning, a boy.
    Guthrie McCabe: Bully for the widow Gomez.
    Jesus: But Senor, it has been more than a year ago since Senor Antonio Gomez has been buried in the church house.
    McCabe: Well, there’s some men y’a just can’t trust to stay where you put ‘em.
    Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)