chieftainess

English

Etymology

From chieftain +‎ -ess. Middle English had an equivalent form cheventaynes but the OED asserts the term was derived anew in modern English in the 19th century.[1]

Noun

chieftainess (plural chieftainesses)

A female chieftain.
- 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], “chapter ?”, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], OCLC 742335644:
  He gazed in silence for some minutes upon the body of Meg Merrilies, as it lay before him, with the features sharpened by death, yet still retaining the stern and energetic character which had maintained in life her superiority as the wild chieftainess of the lawless people amongst whom she was born.
- 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 20, in Klee Wyck‎:
  Mrs. Douse was more important than Mr. Douse; she was a chieftainess in her own right, and had great dignity.
The wife of a chieftain.

Synonyms

chiefess (chiefly Hawaiian); chieftess (irregular)

Hypernyms

chief, chieftain

Translations

a female chieftain

Maori: tapairu

References

James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Chieftainess”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 340, column 2.

[1] James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Chieftainess”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 340, column 2.