Right you are
Mithalwen and
littlemanpoet. As the venerable
OED claims:
Quote:
|
A woman: formerly in a general sense; in later use restricted to a woman of humble rank or of low employment. (J), esp. one engaged in the sale of some commodity. Now dial esp. in compound words such as Ale-wife, Apple-wife, Fishwife, Old wife, Oyster wife.
|
See, a point about language.
