Laz--

>>The interpretation I have just read claims that 'Hiwi' means "Wife".<<

There is a Germanic root {h�w-} (as always, acute for macron), with a
general meaning of relation or affinity. It is cognate with Latin "civis."
The word /h�wa/ means wife (Gattin) in Old Saxon and Old High German.
In Old Icelandic the plural /hj�(n)/ or /hj�n/ means husband and wife,
or members of the same household (Gatten, Hausgenossen).

My source is F. Holthausen's <Altenglishes etymologisches W�rterbuch>
2nd edition (1963), p. 161.

Gazariah