English edit

Etymology edit

bishop +‎ -ess

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

bishopess (plural bishopesses)

  1. A female bishop.
    • 2003, Patrick Collinson, Elizabethans:
      Presently there were bishopesses as well as priestesses, splendidly arrayed in chasubles and diadems. These were, from a strictly canonical point of view, the first validly ordained women priests.
  2. The wife of a bishop.

Translations edit

References edit