detractress
English edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
detractress (plural detractresses)
- (obsolete) A female detractor.
- 1715 March 20 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 23. Wednesday, March 9. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:
- That if any shall detract from a Lady's Character, […] the said Detractress shall be forthwith ordered to the lowest place of the Room.
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “detractress”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)