Widow (redirected from Widow & orphan)

widow n. a woman whose husband died while she was married to him and has not since remarried. A divorced woman whose ex-husband dies is not a widow, except for the purpose of certain Social Security benefits traceable to the ex-husband.

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WIDOW. An unmarried woman whose husband is dead.
     2. In legal writings, widow is an addition given to a woman who is unmarried and whose husband is dead. The addition of spinster is given to a woman who never was married. Lovel. on Wills, 269. See Addition. As to the rights of a widow, seq Dower.