do you know someone who is a widow?
I do, actually. My grandmother. My grandfather's passing made me look into widows. It's a touchy subject, and apparently the treatment of widows and widowers varies greatly throughout the world.
Widow
used for either sex, at least according to some dictionaries, but the word "widowerhood" is also listed in some dictionaries. Occasionally, the word "viduity" is used. The adjective for either sex is "widowed".
Economic position.
In societies where the husband is the sole provider, his death can leave his family destitute. The tendency for women generally to outlive men can compound this, as can men in many societies marrying women younger than themselves. In some patriarchal societies, widows may maintain
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died and a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The treatment of widows and widowers around the world varies.
Terminology.
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed "widowhood". These terms are not applied to a divorcé(e) following the death of an ex-spouse.
The term "widowhood" can be