Learn English – What does “Goodwife” mean

vocabulary

2. Goodwife Used formerly as a courtesy title before the surname of a married woman not of noble birth.

Although I have studied the explanation, in fact, I couldn't make a head or tail of it! Especially, what is the concept of the bold part?

Best Answer

The easiest way to understand this usage of Goodwife is to think of it as "Mrs." but for married women (commoners) in the old days. According to Wikipedia,

Goodwife (Scots: Guidwife), usually abbreviated Goody, was a polite form of address for women, formerly used where "Mrs.", "Miss" and "Ms." would be used today. Its male counterpart is Goodman.

Now, let's focus on the part you do not understand: a married woman not of noble birth.

You can understand this phrase as a married woman (who is) not of noble birth. But what does not of noble birth mean? According to Macmillan Dictionary,

noble (adjective)
2. belonging to the highest social class. In the U.K., noble people usually have a title, for example Duke or Baroness
of noble birth/descent/blood: a young man of noble birth

So, not of noble birth means "not belonging to the highest social class". Thus, a married woman (who is) not of noble birth would mean "a married woman who is not belonging to the highest social class".

Bonus: How to understand the definition

2. Goodwife Used formerly as a courtesy title before the surname of a married woman not of noble birth.

= "Goodwife" (the word) was used "formerly" (in the past) as "a courtesy title" (a polite title, such as "Mr.", "Mrs.", etc.) before the "surname" (the last name or family name) of a "married woman" (a woman who is not single) (who is) "not of noble birth" (see the definition of "of noble birth" in my explanation above).

To make the parsing a bit clearer, here is how you can read it:

Goodwife: [ Used formerly [ as [ a courtesy title ] before [ the surname of [ a married woman [ not [ of noble birth ] ] ] ] ] ].

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