chatelaine
Americannoun
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chatelaines
plural
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the mistress of a castle.
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the mistress of an elegant or fashionable household.
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a hooklike clasp or a chain for suspending keys, trinkets, scissors, a watch, etc., worn at the waist by women.
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a woman's lapel ornament resembling this.
noun
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(esp formerly) the mistress of a castle or fashionable household
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a chain or clasp worn at the waist by women in the 16th to the 19th centuries, with handkerchief, keys, etc, attached
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a decorative pendant worn on the lapel
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chatelaine
From the French word châtelaine, dating back to 1835–45. See chatelain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This while substituting for her mother as the rectory’s chatelaine, with all the submission and drudgery that entails.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2018
The conversation is interrupted momentarily when Lady Carnarvon, the estate's current chatelaine, pops by to fix herself an espresso.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2015
It seems the Duchess of Northumberland, chatelaine of Alnwick and creator of the Poison Garden, keeps several stuffed dogs up at the castle.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 25, 2015
Deborah, who married a nobleman and became chatelaine of the vast Chatsworth estate in central England, died last week aged 94.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 2, 2014
“Indeed, my lord, this collar and chain do hold me fast,” I said, touching my ruff and the links of the chatelaine at my waist, where my needlework tools were suspended.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
To illustrate Mr. Blahnik’s inspirations, he dressed up Ms. Birley and the Chanel creative consultant Amanda Harlech as Victorian chatelaines and captured them strolling across the fields of a British estate.
From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2017
Where are those prodigious chatelaines of 1850 which no lady could be without?
From John Leech's Pictures of Life and Character by William Makepeace Thackeray
"Never!" cried Flossie, swinging in a circle so abruptly that the rattling chatelaines shot out at an angle of forty-five degrees.
From A Star for a Night A Story of Stage Life by Elsie Janis
She jingled with chains and watches and lockets and chatelaines, carried more rings than a cane rack, and walked with the air of the heroine of the society drama at the opera house.
From In Our Town by Frederic Rodrigo Gruger
But how many would have recognised its superiority to the tinsel stuff of those recent days, full of galvanised knights and stuffed chatelaines?
From Essays on Modern Novelists by William Lyon Phelps
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