Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Husband

Husband , noun

[Old English hosebonde, husbonde, a husband, the master of the house or family, Anglo-Saxon h{not transcribed}sbonda master of the house; h{not transcribed}s house + bunda, bonda, householder, husband; prob. from Icelandic h{not transcribed}sbōndi house master, husband; h{not transcribed}s house + b{not transcribed}andi dwelling, inhabiting, present participle of b{not transcribed}a to dwell; akin to Anglo-Saxon b{not transcribed}an, Gothic bauan. See House Be, and compare Bond a slave, Boor.]

1.
The male head of a household; one who orders the economy of a family. [Obsolete]
2.
A cultivator; a tiller; a husbandman. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
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. [Rare]
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. [Rare] — Dryden
Collocations (1)
A ship's husband (Nautical) , an agent representing the owners of a ship, who manages its expenses and receipts.

Husband , transitive verb

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. — Shakespeare
2.
To cultivate, as land; to till. [Rare]
Land so trim and rarely husbanded. — Evelyn
3.
To furnish with a husband. [Rare] — Shakespeare