Hus"band (?), n. [OE. hosebonde, husbonde, a husband, the master of the house or family, AS. hsbonda master of the house; hs house + bunda, bonda, householder, husband; prob. fr. Icel. hsbondi house master, husband; hs house + bandi dwelling, inhabiting, p.pr. of ba to dwell; akin to AS. ban, Goth. bauan. See House Be, and cf. Bond a slave, Boor.]
1.
The male head of a household; one who orders the economy of a family.
[Obs.]
2.
A cultivator; a tiller; a husbandman.
[Obs.]
Shak.
The painful husband, plowing up his ground.
Hakewill.
He is the neatest husband for curious ordering his domestic and field accommodations.
Evelyn.
3.
One who manages or directs with prudence and economy; a frugal person; an economist.
[R.]
God knows how little time is left me, and may I be a good husband, to improve the short remnant left me.
Fuller.
4.
A married man; a man who has a wife; -- the correlative to wife.
The husband and wife are one person in law.
Blackstone.
5.
The male of a pair of animals.
[R.]
Dryden.
A ship's husband Naut., an agent representing the owners of a ship, who manages its expenses and receipts.
© Webster 1913.
Hus"band, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Husbanded; p. pr. & vb. n. Husbanding.]
1.
To direct and manage with frugality; to use or employ to good purpose and the best advantage; to spend, apply, or use, with economy.
For my means, I'll husband them so well,
They shall go far.
Shak.
2.
To cultivate, as land; to till.
[R.]
Land so trim and rarely husbanded.
Evelyn.
3.
To furnish with a husband.
[R.]
Shak.
© Webster 1913.