pythoness
Americannoun
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a woman believed to be possessed by a soothsaying spirit, as the priestess of Apollo at Delphi.
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a woman who practices divination.
noun
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a woman, such as Apollo's priestess at Delphi, believed to be possessed by an oracular spirit
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a female soothsayer
Gender
See -ess.
Etymology
Origin of pythoness
1325–75; python 2 + -ess; replacing Middle English phytonesse < Middle French
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.
One morning after Senator Hanway had departed, Dorothy took Richard across to meet the blonde pythoness.
From The President A novel by Lewis, Alfred Henry
Thereafter, Storri was no sooner in the Harley house when, presto! from over the way our pythoness sweeps in.
From The President A novel by Lewis, Alfred Henry
Not a trace of the sacred madness that uplifted the Delphian pythoness or provoked the delirious visions of a Jeremiah or an Ezekiel!
From The Secret of Sarek by Leblanc, Maurice
But keep your wits about you when the pythoness ascends, or you will forget the questions you have come to ask her.
From Back to Methuselah by Shaw, Bernard
Only a mind in a quasi-delirious state, to be likened to that of the pythoness on the tripod, could have evolved the Rime of Redemption 345 or Thorgerda 346.
From The Life of Sir Richard Burton by Wright, 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.
