wife vs partner

wife and partner both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
wife	Yes	No	No	No
partner	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, partner is a hypernym of wife; that is, partner is a word with a broader meaning than wife:

Other hypernyms of wife include better half, married person, mate, spouse, adult female, woman.

wife (noun)	partner (noun)
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage	an associate in an activity or endeavor or sphere of common interest
	a person's partner in marriage
	a person who is a member of a partnership

wife (verb)	partner (verb)
	provide with a partner
	act as a partner