---
title: washerwife — Early Modern English dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «washerwife» in the Early Modern English dictionary: A woman whose work is washing clothes for other people. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# washerwife

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** woman, he, she · **What happens:** wash, cause, burnt, burn, get, chance · **To what, where:** clothes, old washerwife, auld washerwife, iron shoon, end, habitation

<!-- .vabout -->
«washerwife» in the Early Modern English dictionary: its meaning for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [washerwife in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/washerwife.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A woman whose work is washing clothes for other people.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:washerwife:m1:1
# text = A woman whose work is washing clothes for other people.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	4	nmod:poss	_	_
4	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
5	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
6	washing	wash	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	0	root	_	_
7	clothes	clothes	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	6	obj	_	_
8	for	for	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wash** | present · progressive | a woman | clothes |  |  |  | for other people | vn preparing-26.3-2 «NP V NP PP.beneficiary»: agent=Agent clothes=Patient for people=Beneficiary |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And he caused the old washerwife and her daughter to be burnt.

<!-- .note -->
From More English Fairy Tales.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:washerwife:x1:1
# text = And he caused the old washerwife and her daughter to be burnt.
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	washerwife	washerwife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	daughter	daughter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	burnt	burnt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | past | he | the old washerwife and her daughter |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition washerwife=Patient |
| 2 | **burnt** | to-infinitive · passive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
And he caused the auld washerwife and her dochter to be burned.

<!-- .note -->
From The Blue Fairy Book.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:washerwife:x2:1
# text = And he caused the auld washerwife and her dochter to be burned.
1	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	caused	cause	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	auld	auld	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	washerwife	washerwife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
8	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	nmod:poss	_	_
9	dochter	dochter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	conj	_	_
10	to	to	PART	TO	_	12	mark	_	_
11	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	12	aux:pass	_	_
12	burned	burn	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cause** | past | he | the auld washerwife and her dochter |  |  |  |  | vn engender-27.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Precondition washerwife=Patient |
| 2 | **burn** | to-infinitive · passive | he *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V» |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
At seven years' end she got her iron shoon, clomb the glassy hill, and chanced to come to the old washerwife's habitation.

<!-- .note -->
From More English Fairy Tales.

<!-- fold The tree, 24 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:emode:washerwife:x3:1
# text = At seven years' end she got her iron shoon, clomb the glassy hill, and chanced to come to the old washerwife's habitation.
1	At	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
2	seven	seven	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	3	nummod	_	_
3	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	'	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	end	end	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
6	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	7	nsubj	_	_
7	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
9	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	shoon	shoon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
12	clomb	clomb	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	glassy	glassy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	hill	hill	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
17	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	18	cc	_	_
18	chanced	chance	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	conj	_	_
19	to	to	PART	TO	_	20	mark	_	_
20	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	18	xcomp	_	_
21	to	to	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
23	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	24	amod	_	_
24	washerwife	washerwife	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	's	's	PART	POS	_	24	case	_	_
26	habitation	habitation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | past | she | her iron shoon and clomb |  |  | at seven years's end |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: agent=Agent shoon=Beneficiary hill=Theme |
| 2 | **chance** | participle | she *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn risk-94-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent clause=Theme |
| 3 | **come** | to-infinitive | she *not said here* |  |  | the old washerwife's habitation |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme to habitation=Initial\_Location |

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**Text:** the Early Modern English dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova; its examples quote public-domain texts. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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