chieftainess

English edit

Etymology edit

From chieftain +‎ -ess. Middle English had an equivalent form cheventaynes but the OED asserts the term was derived anew in modern English in the 19th century.^[1]

Noun edit

chieftainess (plural chieftainesses)

A female chieftain.
- 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], “chapter ?”, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
  He gazed in silence for some minutes upon the body of Meg Merrilies, as it lay before him, with the features sharpened by death, yet still retaining the stern and energetic character which had maintained in life her superiority as the wild chieftainess of the lawless people amongst whom she was born.
- 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 20, in Klee Wyck‎^[1]:
  Mrs. Douse was more important than Mr. Douse; she was a chieftainess in her own right, and had great dignity.
The wife of a chieftain.

Synonyms edit

chiefess (chiefly Hawaiian); chieftess (irregular)

Hypernyms edit

chief, chieftain

Translations edit

a female chieftain

Maori: tapairu
Vietnamese: nữ tù trưởng

References edit

^ James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Chieftainess”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 340, column 2.

[1] James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Chieftainess”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 340, column 2.

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