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
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
The couple eluded their Soviet duenna, fleeing by taxi across the Swedish border, and sought refuge at the American embassy in Stockholm.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
Instantly he hid himself behind a thick-leaved hedge, that the rigorous duenna might not see him.
From Translations from the German (Vol 3 of 3) Tales by Musaeus, Tieck, Richter by Carlyle, Thomas
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.
