governess
Americannoun
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a woman who is employed to take charge of a child's upbringing, education, etc.
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Archaic. a woman who is a ruler or governor.
noun
Gender
See -ess.
Other Word Forms
- governessy adjective
- subgoverness noun
- undergoverness noun
Etymology
Origin of governess
1400–50; late Middle English governeress < Old French gouverneresse, feminine of gouverneur governor; -ess
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Elizabeth saw the manuscript, she wrote to a friend that “the governess has gone off her head.”
My mother’s family came from Breslau, and she had grown up speaking German, so she insisted I do too, hiring a strict governess named Frau Schmidt to look after me.
From Literature
The new TV series, based on the novel of the same name by Janice Hadlow, centres on the Bennet family's middle sister, Mary, as she becomes a governess to the Gardiner family.
From BBC
Though only sixteen years old, she was an experienced and capable governess, previously employed at Ashton Place, where she had cared for the three wards of Lord Fredrick Ashton.
From Literature
Even so, in Miss Lumley’s day, to be the governess in a grand estate was a lonely job.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
