C Wileman, who is aggrieved about his perceived exclusion from the census, is not only pedantic, he is wrong (April 25).
A woman whose husband has died is called a widow, a man whose wife has died is called a widower.
Both of these appellations are nouns, and obviously gender-specific.
A person of either gender whose spouse has died may be described by the adjective "widowed" as in he or she was married, but now is widowed.
Sorry, Mr Wileman, I share your pedantry as well as your marital status.
Peter Major,
Bramley Garth,
York.
Updated: 10:22 Thursday, May 03, 2001
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