prioress
Americannoun
noun
Gender
See -ess.
Other Word Forms
- subprioress noun
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
The prioress of the order had taken her to meet the friar Robert, who was visiting from the Carmelite priory in Oxford, to see if he wanted anything to eat.
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
No one, from the youngest novice to the prioress, is excused from kitchen work.
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.