How Did We Get the Word ‘Husband’?

Far from limiting a man, marriage calls him into a larger mission of love, stewardship, and provision.
How Did We Get the Word ‘Husband’?
A husband is called to the vocation of husbandry—care, commitment, and helping his family grow. Biba Kajevic
Walker Larson
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Everyone knows what a husband is. Or do they? Defining him simply as “a married man” falls short of the full richness and depth of this term and the reality to which it refers.

How can we better understand the full significance of what it means to be a husband? As is so often the case, English provides us with clues. The word “husband” derives from the Old English “husbonda,” which in turn derives from the Old Norse “husbondi,” meaning “master of the house” or “house-dweller.” It’s a combination of “hus” (“house”) and “bondi,” meaning a “dweller, freeholder, or peasant.”

Walker Larson
Walker Larson
Author
Prior to becoming a freelance journalist and culture writer, Walker Larson taught literature and history at a private academy in Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a master's in English literature and language, and his writing has appeared in The Hemingway Review, Intellectual Takeout, and his Substack, The Hazelnut. He is also the author of two novels, "Hologram" and "Song of Spheres."