prioress
Americannoun
noun
Gender
See -ess.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prioress
1250–1300; Middle English prioresse < Old French. See prior 2, -ess
Explanation
The head of a group of nuns is a prioress. Geoffrey Chaucer immortalized this figure by including The Prioress's Tale as one of his 14th-century Canterbury Tales. In the hierarchy of religious figures at a Carmelite or Dominican monastery, a group of nuns is lead by a prioress, whose superior is called an abbess. The male version of these ranks are prior and abbot, leaders who preside over a group of Catholic monks.
Vocabulary lists containing prioress
Queen of the Sea
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Measure for Measure
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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.
"It was our first time in a room together. We sat at a table as he ate, and the prioress didn't come back so I had to let him out."
From BBC • Jan. 1, 2023
“This could be the prioress, or maybe someone in the Dominican order who is over her, though it is possible archdiocesan officials have weighed in on the matter informally.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2021
When “Matrix” opens, Marie, all of 17 years old, is appointed prioress of a dilapidated abbey, founded centuries earlier, where a few nuns remain scavenging for food.
From Washington Post • Aug. 30, 2021
Olson and Sister Lois Eckes, the prioress of the monastery, approved the unusual arrangement.
From New York Times • Nov. 20, 2014
“Your prioress is like a queen, the fountain of all goodness. All the sisters are her ladies-in-waiting, happy to live under her benevolent rule. There is a hierarchy, with servants in the lowest place.”
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
