Widow-Widower | Commonly Confused Words

Widow

/ˈwɪdəʊ/

A woman whose husband has died and who has not remarried.

'And we are both widows too!' said Barbara's mother.Widowed mother, perhaps?' Nicholas sighed.'That is true,' the widow said.

/ˈwɪdəʊə/

A man whose wife has died and who has not remarried.

Widow ends with an o sound, similar to words like solo, which might help remember it refers to a single woman now alone.
Widower has an additional er at the end, indicating the male gender, often used in English to denote male versions of terms.
Remember the wo in widow stands alone for a woman, as its shorter and simpler, like a womans title Ms. compared to Mr. which applies to men.
Widower implies the continuation or extension of the word widow, much like it extends the term for the male counterpart.
Visualizing this: a widow might paint a picture of one standing figure (woman), while widower suggests a pair (man and woman), from which the man is left alone.