wittol
noun/ˈwɪtəl/
Etymology From Middle English witewold; likely a blend of witen (“to know”) + cockewold (“cuckold”), equivalent to wit + cuckold.
1
Archaic A man who knows and tolerates his wife's infidelity with another man or men; a mari complaisant.
- To see […] a wittol wink at his wife's honesty, and too perspicuous in all other affairs […]1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
- So the Ifrit cried at her, "Thou whorest and makest me a wittol with thine eyes;" and struck her so that her head went flying.1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “Night 13”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:
1 more example
- God help the husband that obliges his wife's least whim: he'll be a wittol ere he's two years wed!1960, John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor:
- Related terms
- cuckold, cuckquean, mari complaisant, wittoldry