pythoness

American  

[pahy-thuh-nis, pith-uh-] / ˈpaɪ θə nɪs, ˈpɪθ ə- /

noun

1. a woman believed to be possessed by a soothsaying spirit, as the priestess of Apollo at Delphi.

2. a woman who practices divination.

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pythoness British  

/ ˈpaɪθəˌnɛs /

noun

1. a woman, such as Apollo's priestess at Delphi, believed to be possessed by an oracular spirit

2. a female soothsayer

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Gender

See -ess.

Etymology

Origin of pythoness

1325–75; python ² + -ess; replacing Middle English phytonesse < Middle French

Example Sentences

Against this doom Genevi�ve Tabouis, ex-political pythoness of Paris' Leftist L'Oeuvre, for seven years waged a one-woman struggle, of which these memoirs are a record.

From Time Magazine Archive

The pythoness, gone astray, is found there no longer.

From The Temptation of St. Antony or A Revelation of the Soul by Flaubert, Gustave

Bess and he were on amiable terms, and he was secretly assured that the blonde pythoness approved him.

From The President A novel by Lewis, Alfred Henry

She sprung to her feet—she had been kneeling all this time—and confronted him like a Saxon pythoness.

From The Baronet's Bride by Fleming, May Agnes

However, don't look like the pythoness in her fury, Ginty; a joke is a joke; and here's that he may be whatever you wish him!

From The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles Of Ballytrain The Works of William Carleton, Volume One by Carleton, William