abbess

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old French abaesse, abeesse (French abbesse), from Latin abbatissa, feminine of abbas, abbatis (“abbot”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈæbɪs/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

abbess (plural abbesses)

1. A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks.

   The abbess was always after the nuns to keep the convent immaculately clean.

Synonyms

• (female superior of a nunnery): mother superior

Related terms

• abbey
• abbot

Translations

female superior of a nunnery

Armenian: մայրապետ (hy) (mayrapet) Basque: abadesa (eu) Breton: abadez (br) f. Bulgarian: игуменка (bg) Catalan: abadessa f. Czech: abatyše (cs) f. Danish: abbedisse (da) c. Dutch: abdis (nl) Esperanto: abatino (eo) Finnish: abbedissa (fi) French: abbesse (fr) f. German: Äbtissin f., Äbtin f., Oberin f. (Reverend Mother) Greek: ηγουμένη (el) Hungarian: apácafőnöknő (hu), apátnő (hu) Icelandic: abbadís (is) f. Interlingua: Abbatessa Irish: ban-ab, banab f3

Italian: badessa (it) Latin: abbatissa (la) Macedonian: опатица (mk) (opática) f., игуменија (mk) (iguménija) f. Manx: ard-chaillagh (gv) f., ard-chaillagh ghoo (gv) f., ard-ven reill (gv) f., ben abb (gv) f., moir abb (gv) f. Norwegian: abbedisse (no) Novial: abata Portuguese: abadessa (pt) Russian: аббатиса f., настоятельница монастыря f., игуменья f. Scottish Gaelic: ban-aba (gd) f. Slovene: opatinja (sl) f. Spanish: abadesa (es) Swedish: abbedissa (sv) Ukrainian: абатиса (uk) (abatýsa) f. Vietnamese: bà trưởng tu viện, nữ trưởng tu viện Volapük: (male or female) lepädan (vo), (female) jilepädan (vo)

Shorthand

• Gregg (Version: Centennial,Series 90,DJS,Simplified,Anniversary,Pre-Anniversary): a - b - e - left s