from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
noun A woman employed to educate and train the children of a private household.
from The Century Dictionary.
To play the governess; act as governess: as, to go out governessing.
To control or direct as a governess.
noun A woman invested with authority to control and direct; a female ruler: also used figuratively.
noun Specifically A woman who has the care of instructing and directing children; an instructress: generally applied to one who teaches children in their own homes.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
noun A female governor; a woman invested with authority to control and direct; especially, one intrusted with the care and instruction of children, -- usually in their homes.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
noun A woman paid to educatechildren in their own home.
verb To work as governess; to educate children in their own home.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun a woman entrusted with the care and supervision of a child (especially in a private home)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English governesse, short for governouresse, from Old French governeresse, feminine of governeor, governor, from Latin gubernātor; see gubernatorial.]
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Examples
The word governess appealed to him; it meant that she had to do with wealthy people, at least.
"A governess is a very nice thing," said the doctor, taking off his hat and leaning back against the iron railing, – "if she knows properly how to set people to play."
Surprises are tucked here and there on the half-acre property - a treehouse enveloped by a Norway spruce, for example, and a weeping katsura tree that arches over a sandstone block she calls her governess bench.
Surprises are tucked here and there on the half-acre property - a treehouse enveloped by a Norway spruce, for example, and a weeping katsura tree that arches over a sandstone block she calls her governess bench.
ruzuzu commented on the word governess
See instructress and preceptress.
September 3, 2010