Is wife a word that doesn't have a French equivalent, and what other words don't have a French equivalent?

“Ma femme’ is used to mean wife and “mon mari” is husband but I agree, it is also the word for woman.

I would use la mariée.

^^ I’ve never heard that used.

Apparently French is not the only language with that problem. I found this article.

In French class we were always told to use mon petit chou, my little cabbage.

Regarding the Quora link and Spanish, the word for spouse is feminine for wife (esposa) and masculine for husband (esposo) so it’s not the same as the word spouse in English in my opinion. Feminine spouse is wife, isn’t it?

There is an addition word in Spanish, marido, which means husband.

Moreover, you can use mujer in the same way you would use it in English, as in my woman to describe your wife.

At a wedding you would typically be pronounced Marido y Mujer. Husband and woman. Which is interesting since in English it was for a long time man and wife, and was update to husband and wife. Or, I consider it an update. I would guess both are still used.

Extra note: esposas means handcuffs.

Interesting. I’m thinking of a man introducing his wife in a formal setting as “This is my little cabbage”

Also sensible, there is no direct translation for that word, meaning prudent.

@flo You are right. One would never say “mon petite chou” to refer to one’s wife to another person. It is solely a term of endearment.

It’s like saying pork chop or honey in English.

I suppose all languages have that problem. No word for x y z. But wife is such a straight forward, common word.

@flo Well, there is a word; it’s just that is also the word for woman.

When I was growing up I was taught woman was for a female who was married, actually it was interpreted as that female has had sex. We used lady or young lady for unmarried female adults, typically young. We also used miss not ma’am, because ma’am assumed married. I think that is partly why we use miss up north when we don’t know someone’s name. That has somewhat changed now I guess. I’m just thinking some of this might have stemmed from the French use of the word woman/wife. I don’t know if the French use Mademoiselle if they are unsure of the marital status, or if they go by how old she looks.

But there is a thought equivalent and that is expressible in French.

You seem to be reviving the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Good luck with that. Language expresses what needs to be expressed whether directly by a word or often by a phrase or circumlocution.

”Épouse” means “wife.” It does not refer to both parties. The masculine counterpart in French is ”époux,” which means “husband.”

Épouse it is. Thanks.

I’ve still heard “ma femme” used more for “my wife’ then “mon epouse.” You would use la femme to talk about any woman but “ma femme” indicates a wife. Not saying that epouse is incorrect though.

@janbb To my knowledge, both “ma femme” and @zenvelo‘s suggestion of “la mariée” are perfectly acceptable. Even if neither of them literally mean wife, ordinary usage is such that no one would misunderstand you. So in that sense, they are certainly equivalents (as requested).

When I originally answered this question, I was primarily responding to the OP’s claim that ”épouse” refers to both parties and her apparent desire for a literal counterpart. But just because ”épouse” literally means “wife” doesn’t mean it’s more common in actual everyday speech.