Daily Ancestorwdowiec
Wdowiec is Polish for "widower," a man whose wife has died; in a marriage record it shows the groom had been married before.
Wdowiec is the masculine partner of wdowa, widow. In a marriage entry the groom is either kawaler, a bachelor, or wdowiec, a widower, so the word tells you to look for an earlier marriage and the death of his first wife.
The entry may add po, after, and the late wife's name, as wdowiec po Agnieszce. Owdowiały, widowed, is a related adjective you may see in the same place. Regional forms include gdowiec.
As seen in a recordMarriage record in a Polish-language parish register, Russian Poland, 1850s
Jan Kurek, wdowiec po zmarłej Agnieszce z Sowów, lat czterdzieści pięć mający
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Daily Ancestor. "wdowiec." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/polish/wdowiec. Last checked 2026-10-28.