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Perhaps 'Entwife' was the Ents' name for them, but not their name for themselves?
I had been taught that 'wife' was simply a cognate for 'woman', I suppose with the added sense of ownership, as Bethberry alluded to. Of course, that marital ownership thing does cut both ways, I believe, in historically Germanic cultures.
My sense, in answer to Fea, is that an Ent calling his "spouse" Entwife is tantamount to saying that there is an insuperable connection, and the ownership does stretch both ways. The Ents are saying they can't really do without the Entwives, which, of course, is quite correct, despite the ability of Trees to turn into Ents.
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