Husband Definition: Surprising Details and Common Uses

To define a “husband” take a look at the following examples of how native speakers typically use this word to describe different situations and share certain information.

Learn alternative expressions and related words to expand your vocabulary and make your English more flexible, interesting and advanced.

Related nouns: wife family father

Synonyms (contextual): hubby partner spouse

Common collocations: loving husband devoted husband ex-husband

Discover how to say “husband” properly in combinations with other parts of speech to discuss different things and understand how to build simple language units like collocations on your own.

With adjectives: faithful husband supportive husband ideal husband

With verbs: love your husband support your husband speak to your husband

With nouns (noun + noun): house husband husband and wife husband support

Look at the examples below to uncover the meaning of “husband” in various idiomatic contexts and understand when you can use these phrases on your own.

• Husband material — describes a man who has the qualities suitable for being a good husband.

  Sophia, think about John. He is responsible, caring and patient — definitely husband material.

• A husband’s hand — figuratively refers to the influence, support, or authority of a husband. It can appear in literature or poetry.

  With a husband’s hand guiding her, Maria easily overcame all the challenges.

• Husband of one’s fate — someone who is a lifelong partner, emphasizing destiny or inevitability rather than just marriage.

  She considered him the husband of her fate, as if they were meant to be together since they met in kindergarten.

• Husband-to-be — a man who is engaged to be married; literally, the future husband.

  Mia was glowing as she walked down the aisle with her husband-to-be.

Test your knowledge of this word with this quick intellectual game to understand your level of comprehension of all the information you received regarding “husband.”

Discover how to spell “husband” and pronounce it in German, French and Spanish. This will expand your linguistic horizons and boost your general knowledge as well.

See how this word changed throughout history and the differences behind its meaning with these interesting facts. Read them and check what information is new for you and what you already know.

• Husband originally meant house owner.

  The term has its origins in Old Norse “húsbóndi” — a mix of “hús” (house) and “bóndi” (dweller or farmer). At first, it referred to any person who had a household and was in charge of it, not exclusively a married male. The implication of marriage came up later.

• Wedding rings for husbands are relatively new.

  Wedding rings have been on the fingers of wives for thousands of years, but husbands wearing rings became usual only in the 20th century. The trend was mainly driven by World War II when soldiers wore rings to keep their loved ones in mind.

• The average husband is getting older.

  A century ago, the majority of European and American men got married at the age of 23. Presently, the average man’s age for marriage is approximately 30. Globally, men are deferring marriage longer as education, career progress and financial security become their priorities.

• “Husband” can also be a verb.

  The term “husband,” when used as a verb, refers to the careful and non-wasteful management of something. Farmers husband their crops and people husband their savings. This old meaning is related to the original one that refers to a man managing his family’s resources.

The writers, leaders and thinkers open their hearts and minds to us by sharing their views not only on the role of a “husband” but also on the nature of marriage as a partnership.