before 1000;Middle Englishhusband(e), Old Englishhūsbonda master of the house < Old Norsehūsbōndi, equivalent to hūshouse + bōndi (bō-, variant of bū- dwell (see boor) + -nd present participle suffix + -i inflectional ending)
Old English husbonda "male head of a household," probably from Old Norse husbondi "master of the house," from hus "house" (see house (n.)) + bondi "householder, dweller, freeholder, peasant," from buandi, present participle of bua "to dwell" (see bower). Beginning late 13c., replaced Old English wer as "married man," companion of wif, a sad loss for English poetry. Slang shortening hubby first attested 1680s.
v.
"manage thriftily," early 15c., from husband (n.) in an obsolete sense of "steward" (mid-15c.). Related: Husbanded; husbanding.
A pimp: She has a pimp she calls her ''husband''(1960s+ Prostitutes)
The dominant, masculine member of a homosexual couple, male or female (1960s+ Homosexuals)
The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D. Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers. Cite This Source
husband in the Bible
i.e., the "house-band," connecting and keeping together the whole family. A man when betrothed was esteemed from that time a husband (Matt. 1:16, 20; Luke 2:5). A recently married man was exempt from going to war for "one year" (Deut. 20:7; 24:5).
