Wittol

Here is another archaic word – a wittol was a man who was aware of and tolerant of his wife’s infidelity; an acquiescent cuckold. Its first known use is in the fifteenth century and it came from the Middle English witen to know and cokewold cuckold.  It was also used to simply mean a witless person – perhaps on the basis that those who ignored their wives’ infidelity were witless.