奥様

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 奥様 is read as おくさま and is an honorific noun for another person’s wife, also used as a respectful form of address such as madam.
• Basic usage: A superior’s wife appears in 部長の奥様, while politely asking about accompaniment appears in 奥様もご一緒ですか.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Not the neutral term for one’s own wife
  • Because it respectfully refers to someone else’s wife, it is not normally the neutral way to introduce one’s own wife.
• Difference from 妻
  • Compared with the neutral term commonly used for one’s own wife, this word honorifically raises the other person’s side.