| Summary: | AbstractThis paper explores the use of three words used for a female spouse in the Holy Quran: wife, woman and companion. Specifically, it seeks to find if there is a semantic difference between these three terms and the characteristics that determine their classification. The data were collected from all the Quranic verses in which these terms appear. The terms themselves were clustered into specific groups and analyzed in their contexts, i.e. the verses themselves or the ones preceding or following them. The findings indicate that “wife” is used to describe the spouse whose relationship with her husband is characterized with physical intimacy, mental compatibility, religious adherence, mutual love, and birth-giving. “Woman” is used to describe a spouse who disagrees with her husband religiously or who is barren. A “companion” is used to describe a female spouse who no longer has any relation with her husband whatsoever or to deny the existence of matrimony altogether. The study provides important implications for translators of the Holy Quran so as to appropriately render the text into the target language.
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