Etymograph

English

hussy

Hussy comes from earlier hussive, from Middle English houswyf ‘housewife’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500houswyf1‘housewife’
  2. English1500–presenthussive1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1879hussy1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hussy
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1879, Richard Jefferies, London: Smith: “Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500houswyfWiktionary, English hussy‘housewife’
  2. English1500–presenthussiveWiktionary, English hussy
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1879hussyWiktionary, English hussy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1879, Richard Jefferies, London: Smith: “Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the…”

The story

Modern housewife is a restoration of the compound (and thus is a doublet), after its component parts had become unrecognisable through regular phonetic change, as well as gradual negative senses and historical factors. The traditional pronunciation of the word is /ˈhʌzi/; the pronunciation with /s/ is a spelling pronunciation.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with hussy, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Middle English houswyf ‘housewife’

1 more relative in the full family tree

No ads, ever.

Become a founding member, $29 onceI have a code

Explore everything descended from houswyf →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

noun A sexually immoral woman.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hussy”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English houswyf / hussy