威斯丁霍斯

第一夫人(first lady)

美國總統的妻子。雖然第一夫人的角色從未規定或正式定義過，但她卻在美國的政治和社會生活中扮演重要的角色。不論是在國內或國外，在官方或各種儀典場合中，她都代表著她的丈夫；由於可從第一夫人身上發現總統的想法與未來行動的線索，所以她受到許多關注。從開國之初，美國的總統夫人就扮演著一個公眾性的角色，但「第一夫人」這個稱謂一直到很後來才受到普遍的使用，大約是在19世紀末時。到了20世紀末期，這個稱號被其他語言吸收，也常（在不加翻譯的情況下）被用來稱呼該國領導者的妻子－－即便這些國家的總統夫人鮮少受人注意，也較無影響力，不像美國的第一夫人那樣。雖然第一夫人不支薪也非民選，但她的顯著地位使其得以影響他人行止和觀點。有些第一夫人運用其影響力來影響某些重要議題的立法，例如禁酒改革、住宅改善以及婦女權益等。

English version：

first lady

Wife of the president of the United States. Although the first lady's role has never been codified or officially defined,she figures prominently in the country's political and social life. Representative of her husband on official and ceremonial occasions both at home and abroad,the first lady is closely watched for some hint of her husband's thinking and for a clue to his future actions. The wife of the president of the U.S. played a public role from the founding of the republic,but the title first lady did not come into general use until much later,near the end of the 19th century. By the end of the 20th century,the title had been absorbed into other languages and was often used,without translation,for the wife of the country's leader－even in countries where the leader's consort received far less attention and exerted much less influence than did her counterpart in the U.S. Although unpaid and unelected,her prominence provides her a platform from which to influence behavior and opinion,and some first ladies have used their influence to affect legislation on important matters such as temperance reform,housing improvement,and women's rights.

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