家内 (かない, kanai) Japanese meaning: (my) wife

家内 (かない, kanai) Japanese meaning: (my) wife | Kotomora

Kanji

妻つまN5sense 1
妻 is the neutral, register-flexible word for one's own wife, while 家内 is specifically humble and only used when speaking to outsiders about one's own wife.
家か族ぞくN5sense 2
家族 is the everyday word for 'family', while 家内 in the sense of 'household/family' is rare and sounds formal or literary.
女にょう房ぼうN2sense 1
女房 is a casual, somewhat old-fashioned way (often used by older men) to refer to one's own wife, whereas 家内 is more formal and polite.
嫁よめN2
家内 is a humble term a man uses for his own wife, while 嫁 in this sense is dialectal and rustic rather than humble.
嫁よめさん
家内 is a humble, somewhat formal way to refer to one's own wife in front of others, while 嫁さん is casual and warm.

夫おっとN5sense 1
夫 means 'husband', the opposite spouse to the wife referred to by 家内.

奥おくさんpolite 丁寧語N5sense 1
奥さん is the polite term used for someone else's wife, while 家内 is the humble term used only for one's own wife.
女にょう房ぼうplainN2
家内 is the humble term a man uses for his own wife in formal speech, whereas 女房 is a plainer, more colloquial word for the same relationship.
奥おく様さまplainN2

嫁よめN2sense 1
嫁 can colloquially mean 'wife' like 家内, but its core meaning is 'bride' or 'daughter-in-law' from the perspective of the husband's parents, which 家内 never means.
家か庭てい内ない
家内 looks similar to 家庭内 but is a different word meaning 'household' or, informally, 'my wife', not 'within the family'.
うちN5
内 alone can informally mean 'my wife' in speech, but 家内 is the standard, more formal word specifically meaning 'my wife'.

家内Usage100%
- かない
  Standard kanji spelling for both senses. The reading やうち is obsolete and not used in modern Japanese.
- やうち
  out-dated reading
やうち

Compound of 家 (house) and 内 (inside). The 'wife' sense developed from the traditional role of a wife managing the household.