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.
He had dozens of burly military veterans enforce his rules while the prioress and several nuns left.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 27, 2023
"She couldn't understand how it had happened because we were in there 24/7 under her watch all the time. The prioress asked how I could have fallen in love with so little contact," she says.
From BBC • Jan. 1, 2023
Jeanne, the prioress who fantasizes about Grandier, is rebuffed by him and later accuses him of consorting with the devil.
From New York Times • Jun. 29, 2022
“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
The prioress bids me rise and searches my face.
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.
