contessa

[kawn-tes-sah, kuhn-tes-uh]

noun

Italian.

plural

contesse ,

plural

contessas .

1. countess.

Word History and Origins

Origin of contessa¹

First recorded in 1815–20;

Example Sentences

Had Violet signed the marriage contract with her right hand, the law would have made her a miserable contessa, but because she signed it with her left, she remained, to her relief, a miserable orphan.

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I had seen Chloe Marsh earlier in the day—very pretty, with a face shaped like a soft heart and with a delicate nose and lips like a contessa in a Renaissance portrait.

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And the clerks treat even commoners like contessas.

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But without quite putting the notion into words, she had always felt it was just as well that Harriet was an Italian contessa four thousand miles away.

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The consequence of this recital was that Podstadsky's young acquaintances were clamorous for presentation to la contessa.

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