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viuda

vee-OO-dah/ˈbjuða/

“viuda” means “widow” in Spanish. It has 2 different meanings depending on context:

widow

NounfA1
A solitary older woman dressed in a simple black dress and a small black veil, sitting alone on a wooden bench in a peaceful garden setting, symbolizing a widow.

📝 In Action

Mi abuela es viuda y vive sola en el campo.

A2

My grandmother is a widow and lives alone in the countryside.

La viuda del famoso escritor donó todos sus libros a la biblioteca.

B1

The famous writer's widow donated all his books to the library.

Word Connections

Synonyms

  • desposada (archaic) (unmarried woman)

Antonyms

Common Collocations

  • pensión de viudedad – widow's pension
  • quedar viuda – to become a widow

widow line

AdjectivefC1 formal
A drawing representing a page layout where a single short, thin purple stripe is isolated at the very top, clearly separated from a large, solid block of stacked purple stripes below it, illustrating the concept of a widow line in typography.

📝 In Action

Debemos evitar las líneas viudas para mejorar la calidad de impresión.

C1

We must avoid widow lines to improve the print quality.

Word Connections

Common Collocations

  • línea viuda – widow line (typography)

Translate to Spanish

Words that translate to "viuda" in Spanish:

widow→widow line→

✏️ Quick Practice

Quick Quiz: viuda

Question 1 of 1

If Juan's wife died, what would Juan be called?

📚 More Resources

👥 Word Family▼
viudo(widower) — Noun
viudedad(widowhood / widow's pension) — Noun
🎵 Rhymes▼
📚 Etymology▼

Comes from the Latin word *vidua*, which meant 'widowed' or 'deprived.' This Latin root is also the source of the English word 'widow.'

First recorded: Around the 13th century in Spanish texts.

Cognates (Related words)

Portuguese: viúvaItalian: vedova

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does 'viuda' ever refer to a man?

No. 'Viuda' is strictly the feminine form (widow). The masculine form for a man whose wife has died is 'viudo' (widower).

Is 'viuda' only used for people?

Usually, yes. However, in technical fields like publishing, 'viuda' is used as a technical adjective to describe a single line of text left alone at the top of a page.