chatelaine
Americannoun
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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
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
Then there's Sally Simpson, "the powerful editor of the best-selling magazine Celeb, she can't wait to take her rightful place by Julian's side as his new wife and glamorous chatelaine of Number 10".
From The Guardian ● Mar. 30, 2011
Daisy found it impossible to keep her eyes off her ‘pitty aunty’, but attached herself like a lap dog to the wonderful chatelaine full of delightful charms.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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
In a few moments we had forgotten all our troubles in the presence of one of the most charming chatelaines it has been our lot to meet.
From Frenzied Fiction by Leacock, Stephen
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 Gruger, Frederic Rodrigo
From the graves have been recovered chatelaines, of the fashion of those now in vogue, golden toothpicks, ear spoons, and tweezers.
From Women of England by James, Bartlett Burleigh
Eleanor and Katharine Neville were sisters, true enough, but Eleanor is dead and you have wed a second time; while Katharine still chatelaines my castles of Ashby and Calais.
From Beatrix of Clare by Underwood, Clarence F.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
