forewoman

[fawr-woom-uhn, fohr-]

noun

plural

forewomen 

1. a woman in charge of a particular department or group of workers.

2. a woman on a jury selected to preside over and speak for all the jurors on the panel.

Gender Note

See -woman.

Word History and Origins

Origin of forewoman¹

First recorded in 1700–10; fore- + woman

Example Sentences

The deliberations continued for three days before the court reconvened and the forewoman delivered three unanimous guilty verdicts.

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They deliberated just a few minutes before acquitting him, and the forewoman hugged Wright before sending him home.

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“We all felt Mr. Lynch intended well,” Kitty Meese, the jury forewoman, told reporters, including one from The Times.

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Confusion at the Old Bailey arose when the jury forewoman stated they were not guilty, but later admitted she had meant to say no verdict had been reached.

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“It was a difficult case because we all trust law enforcement,” the jury forewoman, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press.

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