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abbess

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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EnglishWikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishabbesse, fromOld Frenchabeesse (Frenchabbesse), fromLate Latin orEcclesiastical Latinabbatissa, feminine ofLatinabbas,abbatis(“abbot”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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abbess (pluralabbesses)

  2. A female superior orgoverness of anunnery, orconvent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which theabbots have over the monks.[First attested around 1150 to 1350][2]
    Theabbess was always after the nuns to keep the convent immaculately clean.
  3. (archaic, Britishslang) A woman who runs abrothel; a woman employed by aprostitute to findclients.[3][4]
    • 1770,Samuel Foote,The Lame Lover, a Comedy in Three Acts. […], London: […] Paul Vaillant; and sold byP[eter] Elmsly […]; and Robinson and Roberts, […],→OCLC, Act I,page12:
      Why laſt night, as Colonel Kill'em, Sir William Weezy, Lord Frederick Foretop, and I were careleſsly ſliding the Ranelagh round, picking our teeth, after a damn'd muzzy dinner at Boodle's, who ſhould trip by but anabbeſs, well known about town, with a ſmart little nun in her ſuite.
    • 1793,John Wolcot,A Poetical, Serious, and Possibly Impertinent, Epistle to the Pope‎[1], Ode II, page33:
      So an oldAbbess for the rattling Rakes, / A tempting dish of human nature makes, / And dresses up a luscious Maid: / I rather should have said, indeed,undresses, / To please a youth's unsanctified caresses.
    • 1881,Pierce Egan, chapter 8, inLife in London‎[2], page205:
      "I mean to inform you," answered theOxonian, with a grin on his face, "that those three nymphs, who have so much dazzled your optics, are three nuns, and the plump female isMother .... of great notoriety, but generally designated theAbbess of .... Her residence is at no great distance from one of the royal palaces; and she is distinguished for her bold ingenuous line of conduct in the profession which she has chosen to adopt; so much so, indeed, that she eclipses all her competitors in infamy."

Synonyms

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Related terms

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Translations

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female superior of a nunnery

References

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  1. ^Elliott K. Dobbie, C. William Dunmore, Robert K. Barnhart, et al. (editors),Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2004 [1998],→ISBN), page 2
  2. ^Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abbess”, inThe Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.:Oxford University Press,→ISBN, page 3.
  3. ^Albert Barrère andCharles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890), “abbess”, inA Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volumeI (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press,→OCLC,page 3.
  4. ^John S[tephen] Farmer, compiler (1890), “abbess”, inSlang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume I, [London: […] Thomas Poulter and Sons] […],→OCLC,pages3–4.

Further reading

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