Widowhood \Wid"ow*hood\, n.

1. The state of being a widow; the time during which a woman is widow; also, rarely, the state of being a widower.

Johnson clung to her memory during a widowhood of more than thirty years. --Leslie Stephen.

2. Estate settled on a widow. [Obs.]

``I 'll assure her of her widowhood . . . in all my lands.'' --Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)