Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The mistress of a castle.
  • noun The mistress of a large, fashionable household.
  • noun A clasp or chain worn at the waist for holding keys, a purse, or a watch.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A female castellan; the lady of the castle or château. See chatelain.
  • noun A chain, or group of chains, worn by castellans, by which the keys of a castle were suspended from the girdle; hence, a similar modern device for suspending watch-keys, seals, trinkets, etc.; and so, by extension, the trinkets themselves.
  • Pertaining to or of the nature of a chatelaine: as, a chatelaine watch.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An ornamental hook, or brooch worn by a lady at her waist, and having a short chain or chains attached for a watch, keys, trinkets, etc. Also used adjectively.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The mistress of a castle or large household.
  • noun A chain or clasp worn at the waist by women, with handkerchief, keys, etc., attached (supposed to resemble the chain of keys once worn by mediaeval chatelaines).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a chain formerly worn at the waist by women; for carrying a purse or bunch of keys etc.
  • noun the mistress of a chateau or large country house

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French châtelaine, feminine of châtelain, chatelain, from Old French chastelain; see chatelain.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French châtelaine.

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Examples

  • He’d spent a good hour looking up the word chatelaine in the dictionary.

    Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001

  • He’d spent a good hour looking up the word chatelaine in the dictionary.

    Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001

  • He’d spent a good hour looking up the word chatelaine in the dictionary.

    Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001

  • He’d spent a good hour looking up the word chatelaine in the dictionary.

    Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001

  • Elizabeth, retired into domestic bliss as a mother and the chatelaine of Pemberley, has lost that crucial wit and spark -- that feistiness and sense of self -- that Austen gave her and which made us love her.

    Alan Elsner: The Mr. Darcy Industry Alan Elsner 2011

  • Elizabeth, retired into domestic bliss as a mother and the chatelaine of Pemberley, has lost that crucial wit and spark -- that feistiness and sense of self -- that Austen gave her and which made us love her.

    Alan Elsner: The Mr. Darcy Industry Alan Elsner 2011

  • Carega, newly appointed chatelaine of Castle Vitre, had watched her through the Thenglass.

    GLASS HOUSES • by TW Williams 2009

  • The lovers' sojourn in Matthew's ancestral chateau is well-done, and some of the supporting characters are marvelous, notably Matthew's mother, a vampire chatelaine.

    Books: 'A Discovery of Witches' by Deborah Harkness, reviewed by Elizabeth Hand 2011

  • It was no wonder the chatelaine had instructed the child to withhold the flask save the three times.

    Healing the Highlander Melissa Mayhue 2011

  • It was no wonder the chatelaine had instructed the child to withhold the flask save the three times.

    Healing the Highlander Melissa Mayhue 2011

Comments

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  • "Just a kiss, just a kiss –

    I have lived for this.

    I can't explain

    why I've become

    Miss Chatelaine." – k.d. lang

    Nice Canadian reference on the part of Albertan k.d. lang: Chatelaine is the name of a Canadian women's magazine.

    December 5, 2007

  • Ah, yes. They played that song to death here when it first debuted. :-)

    December 5, 2007

  • "Sophronia raised up her Depraved Lens of Crispy Magnification, a present on her fifteenth birthday from Dimity's brother, Pillover. It was essentially a high-powered monocle on a stick, but useful enough to keep at all times hanging from a chatelaine at her waist."

    Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger, p 8

    January 28, 2014