noun
unmarried person; widow; widower
Rare, formal term for someone without a spouse, including those never married or widowed. Modern Japanese more commonly uses 独身 (どくしん) for unmarried and 未亡人 (みぼうじん) for widow.
寡の身で子供を育てるのは大変だ。
Raising children alone as a single person is tough.
Common modern word for 'unmarried person', unlike the rare and formal 寡.
Standard term for 'widow', while 寡 is a rarer, more literary equivalent.
The kanji 寡 originally depicts a person under a roof with few possessions, conveying the idea of 'few' or 'alone'. The reading か is the on'yomi. The exact historical derivation of the word is uncertain.