duenna
Americannoun
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(in Spain and Portugal) an older woman serving as escort or chaperon of a young lady.
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a governess.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of duenna
First recorded in 1660–70; from older Spanish duenna (modern Spanish dueña ), from Latin domina, feminine of dominus “lord, master”
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.
Georgian discipline . . . a sketch of Sheridan’s duenna, or chaperone The early life of 18th-century playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan sounds like the stuff of .
From The Guardian • Sep. 29, 2010
Startled first-nighters saw the heroine clad as half nun and half Easter lily, her duenna completely faceless, another nun headless and one tavern character with two heads.
From Time Magazine Archive
A shy woman, virtuous and retiring, caring only for her % children, but determined to fulfil her role as duenna, as figurehead, as matriarch.
From Time Magazine Archive
His teen-age escapades became staples of the gossip columns, and the studio hired a male duenna to keep him in line.
From Time Magazine Archive
Eleanor did not look like a formidable duenna.
From Comrade Yetta by Edwards, Albert
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.
