noun
one's own wife
Casual, familiar term for one's own wife, used mainly by men. Can sound rough or old-fashioned depending on context.
うちのかみさんは料理が上手いんだ。
My wife is a good cook.
山田さんのかみさんに駅で会ったよ。
I ran into Yamada's wife at the station.
noun
Rare, old-fashioned term for a female landlord or the wife of a landlord. Mostly encountered in historical or rural contexts.
下宿のかみさんが親切だった。
The landlady of the boarding house was kind.
Polite term for someone else's wife. かみさん is much more informal and can sound rough.
Old-fashioned or humble term for one's own wife, similar in casualness to かみさん but with a more traditional flavor.
Derived from 上様 (かみさま), a respectful term for a superior or master, later applied to the wife of a household. The exact historical shift is uncertain.