Daily Ancestorvidua
Vidua is Latin for "widow"; a burial or marriage entry that calls a woman vidua tells you her husband had already died.
Vidua means widow. It often appears with the late husband's name, as in vidua Petri Klein, widow of Peter Klein, which is a direct lead to an earlier marriage.
In a marriage entry vidua tells you the bride is marrying for at least the second time, and her surname may be her first husband's, not her maiden name. Abbreviation lists give vid. for both vidua and the male viduus.
As seen in a recordMarriage entry in a Catholic parish register
Copulati sunt Jacobus Weber et Catharina, vidua Petri Klein
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "vidua." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/vidua. Last checked 2026-10-01.