wittol

9.9

An old word for a man whose wife has affairs and who accepts it

noun
/ˈwɪtəl/

Offensive

: cornudo

He was no mere cuckold, but a wittol, accepting his wife's betrayal without protest.

Examples

In the play, the aging merchant became a wittol, enduring his wife's open affairs.
Literature of the era sometimes portrayed the wittol as a figure of ridicule.
He is a wittol who accepts his wife's affairs.
In the old story, the wittol lived in quiet acceptance.
He was no mere cuckold, but a wittol, accepting his wife's betrayal without protest.
In the play, the aging merchant became a wittol, enduring his wife's open affairs.
Literature of the era sometimes portrayed the wittol as a figure of ridicule.

Surface Forms

wittol singular

wittols plural

Morphology

wittol = wit (opaque) = wit + ol

Although built from 'wit' + the suffix '-ol', the suffix is not productive in modern English and the specific meaning 'a husband who knows and tolerates his wife's infidelity' cannot be derived by an average learner from the parts.

Etymology

Wittol comes from the old word wit, which means 'knowledge' or 'to know'. So a wittol is a man who 'knows' his wife is cheating and quietly accepts it.