widower

/ˈwɪdoʊər/

/ˈwɪdəʊwə/

Other forms: widowers

If your grandmother has died, you can call your grandfather a widower, or a man whose wife is no longer living.

When a man loses his wife, he becomes a widower. The equivalent name for a woman whose husband dies is a widow. In many cases, a man is only referred to as a widower if he has not remarried. Both a widow and a widower are described as being widowed. The feminine form of this word came first, from the Old English widewe. The Indo-European root means "be empty," which perfectly describes the grief that many recent widowers feel.

Definitions of widower

1. noun

   a man whose wife is dead especially one who has not remarried
   synonyms: widowman

   type of:

   adult male, man

   an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)