first wife
Initial marriage partner
The first wife is someone's earliest spouse in a sequence of marriages.
The term implies the marriage ended through divorce or death and that at least one subsequent marriage followed: His first wife got the house in the settlement.
It can carry emotional weight—nostalgia, regret, or contrast with later relationships.
In religious contexts, particularly Mormonism, first wife may indicate rank among plural wives.
- divorceLegal end of matrimony
- remarriageWedding after divorce/widowhood
- starter marriageBrief first matrimony ending quickly
- spouseMarried partner
- marriageFormal union between partners
marriage license · wedding · wedding day · maiden · former · previous · alimony · child support · custody · custody battle · separated · widower · successor · second · annulment · vows · happily ever after · estranged
- Wivesspouse, bride, newlywed, housewife, Mrs.
- female relativesmother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother
- DostoevskyCrime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, The Gambler, Raskolnikov