If your grandmother has died, you can call your grandfather a widower, or a man whose wife is no longer living. When a man loses his wife, he becomes a widower. The equivalent name for a woman whose husband dies is a widow. In many cases, a man is only referred to as a widower if he has not remarried.

What do you call a man after his wife dies?

English Language Learners Definition of widower : a man whose wife has died.

How long does it take a man to get over the death of his wife?

Most people will begin to experience a lifting of their pain and sorrow around the one year mark. Others may not see a change in their level of mourning for a few years after their spouses death.

Why are male widows called widowers?

“Widower” first occurs in the 14th century as a way of disambiguating “widow”. Historically men would die before their spouses because of their involvement in war and there were not so many men predeceased by their wives hence the term widow was applied to women whose husbands have died.