Wiktionary

seamstress

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From seamster +‎ -ess.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (traditional) /ˈsɛm(p).stɹɪs/, (now more common) /ˈsiːm(p).stɹɪs/

Noun

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seamstress (plural seamstresses)

  1. A woman who sews clothes professionally.
    • 1656, James Howell, Some Sober Inspections Made Into the Carriage and Consults of the Late Long-Parliament, whereby Ocaſsion is Taken to ſpeak of Parliaments in former Times, and of Magna Charta, with Some Reflexes Upon Government in General, pages 128-129:
      […] the Seamſtreſs brought in her ſilver thimble, the Chamber-maid her Bodkin , the Cook his ſilver ſpoon , the Vintner his Bowl into the common Treaſury of War and they who contribured to ſo pious a work, were invited more then others in ſome Churches to come to the Holy Communion in the very time of adminiſtration; […]
    • 1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Procession of Life”, in Mosses from an Old Manse:
      They are seamstresses, who have plied the daily and nightly needle in the service of master tailors and close-fisted contractors, until now it is almost time for each to hem the borders of her own shroud.
    • 1992, Robert Jordan, “Chapter 52: Need”, in The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time; 4), London: Orbit Books, published 2021, →ISBN, page 862:
      “If you have finished blathering about men, perhaps you won’t mind skipping over the new seamstress you’ve no doubt found?"
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Translations

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Anagrams

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