widow [OE] Widow is descended from an ancient root meaning ‘empty’, related to Sanskrit vidh ‘be destitute’, Latin viduus ‘bereft, widowed’, and vidua, which could mean both a widow and an unmarried woman, and Greek ēitheos ‘unmarried man’. Widow’s weeds [L16th] was expressed earlier as mourning weeds [LME]: here weeds is in the obsolete sense ‘garments’ from Old English wǣd(e). See also grass.