Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A woman employed to educate and train the children of a private household.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To play the governess; act as governess: as, to go out governessing.
- To control or direct as a governess.
- noun A woman invested with authority to control and direct; a female ruler: also used figuratively.
- noun Specifically A woman who has the care of instructing and directing children; an instructress: generally applied to one who teaches children in their own homes.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A female governor; a woman invested with authority to control and direct; especially, one intrusted with the care and instruction of children, -- usually in their homes.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
woman paid toeducate children in their own home. - verb To work as governess; to educate children in their own home.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a woman entrusted with the care and supervision of a child (especially in a private home)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The word governess appealed to him; it meant that she had to do with wealthy people, at least.
Jane Cable George Barr McCutcheon 1897
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"A governess is a very nice thing," said the doctor, taking off his hat and leaning back against the iron railing, – "if she knows properly how to set people to play."
Daisy 1868
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Surprises are tucked here and there on the half-acre property - a treehouse enveloped by a Norway spruce, for example, and a weeping katsura tree that arches over a sandstone block she calls her governess bench.
unknown title 2009
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Surprises are tucked here and there on the half-acre property - a treehouse enveloped by a Norway spruce, for example, and a weeping katsura tree that arches over a sandstone block she calls her governess bench.
unknown title 2009
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The governess was a tightly corseted young woman of unremarkable appearance.
The Dressmaker Posie Graeme-Evans 2010
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Crime writers even as recently as the 1980's still believe that Samuel Kent father of Saville and the governess were the real killers of the child.
Sunday Book Review: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher Elizabeth Kerri Mahon 2009
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Crime writers even as recently as the 1980's still believe that Samuel Kent father of Saville and the governess were the real killers of the child.
Archive 2009-11-01 Elizabeth Kerri Mahon 2009
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The prosecutor called a governess who testified that as a child of five, Marguerite often lied.
On the Sometimes Fatal Consequences of Entering Into Madame Steinheil's Bedchamber 2005
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The nurse in charge was in uniform, the governess was a much put-upon person.
The Titan 2004
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A governess might be a servant, but she was a privileged one.
Sharpe's Escape Cornwell, Bernard 2003
ruzuzu commented on the word governess
See instructress and preceptress.
September 3, 2010