A husband has somewhat declined in social standing from the original. In Anglo-Saxon days hus was a house, and bondi was Norse for a freeholder or yeoman.
A husband was a householder from his position as head of the household. And so, says Dr. Brewer the term came to be applied to a man joined to a woman in marriage, he being, naturally, the head of his household. But, in the true sense of the word, a man could in Anglo-Saxon days be the "husband" of his mother, or sister, so long as he was the head of the house.
