VÍF
nafnorðhvorugkyn
n. [A. S. wîf, wîf-man = woman; Engl. wife; Germ. weib; supposed to have originally meant a weaver, from vefa, vífiðr]:—a woman, but only in poetry; for in Icel. prose, old as well as modern, the word is quite obsolete, Rm. 22; er vaknaði víf ór svefni, Skv. 1. 16; þá varð hilmi hugr á vífi, Hkv. 2. 13; hafða ok þess vætki vífs, Hm. 102; víf en fögru, Fms. vii. 61 (in a verse); vant er stafs vífi, Am. 12; velskúfaðra vífa, Orkn. (in a verse); hamra víf, the wife of the rocks, a giantess; gjörninga víf, a witch; ósk-víf, a ‘wish-wife,’ chosen, wedded wife; geir-víf, spear-wife, = Bellona, Lex. Poët.