hussy

hussy
hussy 1520s, "mistress of a household, housewife," alteration of M.E. husewif (see HOUSEWIFE (Cf. housewife)). Gradually broadened to mean "any woman or girl," and by 1650 was being applied to "a woman or girl who shows casual or improper behavior," and a general derogatory sense had overtaken the word by late 18c. "It is common to use housewife in a good, and huswife or hussy in a bad sense" [Johnson].

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hüssy — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Oskar Hüssy (1903–1964), deutscher Politiker (NSDAP) René Hüssy (1928–2007), Schweizer Fußballspieler und trainer Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung mehrerer mit …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hussy — Hus sy, n. [From Icel. h?si a case, prob. fr. h?s house. See {House}, and cf. {Housewife} a bag, {Huswife} a bag.] A case or bag. See {Housewife}, 2. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Hussy — Hus sy, n. [Contr. fr. huswife.] 1. A housewife or housekeeper. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] 2. A worthless woman or girl; a forward wench; a jade; used as a term of contempt or reproach. Grew. [1913 Webster] 3. A pert girl; a frolicsome or sportive… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hussy — [n] loose woman broad, floozy, jade, Jezebel, minx, slut, strumpet, tart*, tramp, trollop, vamp, wench, whore; concepts 348,412,415,419 …   New thesaurus

  • hussy — ► NOUN (pl. hussies) dated or humorous ▪ a promiscuous or immoral girl or woman. ORIGIN contraction of HOUSEWIFE(Cf. ↑housewifery) …   English terms dictionary

  • hussy — [huz′ē, hus′ē] n. pl. hussies [contr. < ME huswife, housewife] 1. a woman, esp. one of low morals: contemptuous or playful term 2. a bold, saucy girl or young woman 3. Dial. a small sewing kit …   English World dictionary

  • hussy — Housewife House wife , n. [House + wife. Cf. {Hussy}.] 1. The wife of a householder; the mistress of a family; the female head of a household. Shak. [1913 Webster] He a good husband, a good housewife she. Dryden. [1913 Webster] 2. (Usually… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hussy — UK [ˈhʌsɪ] / US noun [countable] Word forms hussy : singular hussy plural hussies old fashioned an insulting word for a woman who likes to attract men …   English dictionary

  • hussy —    This started out as the word ‘housewife’ and suffered phonetic mutilation. By the seventeenth century it was already felt to be a separate word, with a meaning that had also lost its respectability. Male speakers seem mostly to have used it to …   A dictionary of epithets and terms of address

  • hussy — Female human of questionable character. Not necessarily immoral, but bratty and inappropriately provocative Anna Nicole Smith is the hussy that married for money …   Dictionary of american slang

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”