to take a wife
5
9.2
- idiom
- Archaic
:
tomar una esposa
- He realized it was time to take a wife and start a family.
- take a wife
- never took a wife
- a man to take a wife
Examples
-
Father, I have never questioned that it is my bounden duty to take a wife and ensure the royal succession.
-
He decided it was time to take a wife and identified Gladys as a potential bride.
Academic text (2007) -
- It's time you took a wife.
-
When I was young, I took a wife.
-
Not thinking of taking a wife?
-
And I am free to take a wife.
Fiction book (1994) -
And when you return home, will you take a wife, have sons?
-
If he were to take a wife, it would add to his vulnerability.
Fiction book (2001) -
You're not thinking of taking a wife?
-
It has always been the custom for the heir to the throne to take a wife in good time.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To become someone's husband or wife in a ceremony
1
9.9
To marry a woman or provide a wife for someone
Marry someone, often in a small informal ceremony
Antonyms
How Formal
- Archaic
5
9.2
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
- Informal
26
3.1
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to marry a woman' is directly inferable from combining 'take' (to acquire/choose) with 'wife' (female spouse); a B1 learner who knows both words would readily interpret it as taking/obtaining a wife. Although the phrasing is old-fashioned, the compositional logic is clear and mirrors similar constructions in many languages, so it is transparent to learners.
Etymology
Take a wife comes from old times when a man would literally take a wife into his home, making her part of his family. That's why the saying means 'to marry a woman'.