marchioness

English

From Medieval Latin marchionissa, feminine form of marchion, from Late Latin marcha, from Frankish *markōn (“to mark, mark out, to press with the foot”), from Proto-Germanic *markō (“area, region, edge, rim, border”).

(maid-of-all-work): After a character in Charles Dickens' novel The Old Curiosity Shop.

marchioness (plural marchionesses)

The wife of a marquess.
- 1941 January, the late John Phillimore, “The Forth Bridge 1890-1940”, in Railway Magazine, page 5:
  The first train over the bridge was driven by the Marchioness of Tweeddale, and the engine was No. 602 of the North British Railway Company.
A woman holding the rank of marquess in her own right.
(slang, obsolete) An old-fashioned maid-of-all-work (female servant).
- 1896, The Chautauquan (volume 22, page 382)
  The beauty and charm of the little marchioness and the tender hearted old colored man, with their mutual affection, forcibly remind the reader of "Uncle Tom" and "Eva."

wife of a marquess