uxorious (uk-SOR-ee-us); adj. dotingly or inordinately fond of, or devoted to, one's wife. . .
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Sheesh; they make it sound like a bad thing. . .
I was recently reading a biography of GK Chesterton, one of my 'literary heroes', and the author described Chesteron, who was extremely devoted to his beloved wife Frances, as 'uxorious'. And I wondered, at least on the basis of what I've posted here (or there) over the years, if I could justly be described as uxorious. . .
I don't really think that I dote on Jen (I'm not nearly selfless enough for that to be said of me). And gosh, if one's wife is honestly and truly admirable, is her husband's fondness for her really 'inordinate' or 'excessive'?
Just wondering. . . ;)
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good questions. all i know is the two of you seem to have built a good, strong, loving, nourishing marriage that has endured some hard times. that makes you both blessed.
ReplyDeleteA new word for me! So, is there a comparable word for devotion to one's husband?
ReplyDeleteLime - Now you've got me all blushing. . .
ReplyDeleteBut seriously - we do know that we're blessed. Thanks.
Cocotte - Hmmmmmmm. . .
'Uxorious' derives from 'uxor', Latin for 'wife'. The most common Latin word for 'husband' is 'maritus', whence we get 'marital'. It was also common to use 'vir', which means 'man'; as in, 'my man'. And occasionally, the word 'coniunx' was used, which is suggestive of 'conjunction', or something like that. But I don't find any analogous word (at least, not a Latin-based one) for 'inordinately fond of one's husband'.
In my experience, at any rate, women tend to view their husbands more 'realistically' than men (at least the uxorious among us) view their wives, so perhaps there isn't quite the same need for such a word in the opposite direction. . .
;)
INORDINATE. Sheesh. Fondness and doting is all good, my friend.
ReplyDelete:)
Flutter - See, that's what I'm sayin'. . .
ReplyDelete