princess

See also: Princess

English

Etymology

From Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse, corresponding to prince +‎ -ess.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹɪnˈsɛs/, /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/, /ˈpɹɪnsɪs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (UK) -ɛs

Noun

princess (plural princesses)

1. A female member of a royal family other than a queen, especially a daughter or granddaughter of a monarch. [from 14th c.]
   • 1872, George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin:

     She did not cry long, however, for she was as brave as could be expected of a princess of her age.

2. A woman or girl who excels in a given field or class. [from 14th c.]
   • 2014, Blake Masters, ‎Peter Thiel, Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future

     Michael Jackson was the king of pop. Britney Spears was the pop princess. Until they weren't.

3. (now archaic) A female ruler or monarch; a queen. [from 15th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book 5, canto 12:

     And running all with greedie ioyfulnesse / To faire Irena, at her feet did fall, / And her adored with due humblenesse, / As their true Liege and Princesse naturall […]

4. The wife of a prince; the female ruler of a principality. [from 15th c.]

   Princess Grace was the Princess of Monaco.

5. A young girl; used as a term of endearment. [from 18th c.]
6. (derogatory, chiefly US) A young girl or woman (or less commonly a man) who is vain, spoiled or selfish; a prima donna. [from 20th c.]
7. A tinted crystal marble used in children's games.
8. A type of court card in the Tarot pack, coming between the 10 and the prince (Jack).
9. A female lemur.

Usage notes

• A princess is usually styled “Her Highness”. A princess in a royal family is “Her Royal Highness”; in an imperial family “Her Imperial Highness”.

Coordinate terms

• prince

Derived terms

terms derived from princess

• crown princess
• pavement princess
• pearly princess
• Princess Anne (places)
• princess cut
• princess dress
• princesshood
• princessification
• princessipality

• princessless
• princesslike
• princess line
• princessliness
• princessly
• princessness
• princess seam
• princessship
• princessy
• unprincesslike

Related terms

• princely
• principality

Translations

female member of royal family

• Afrikaans: prinses (af)
• Albanian: princeshë (sq)
• Amharic: ልዕልት (ləʿlət)
• Arabic: أَمِيرَة‎ f (ʾamīra)
• Armenian: արքայադուստր (hy) (arkʿayadustr)
• Assamese: কুঁৱৰী (kũwori)
• Azerbaijani: şahzadə
• Basque: printzesa
• Belarusian: прынцэ́са f (pryncésa), царэ́ўна f (caréŭna) (daughter of a tsar), карале́ўна f (karaljéŭna) (daughter of a king)
• Bengali: রাজকুমারী (bn) (rajkumari)
• Breton: maelle, priñsez (br) f
• Bulgarian: принце́са (bg) f (princésa)
• Burmese: မင်းသမီး (my) (mang:sa.mi:)
• Catalan: princesa (ca)
• Cebuano: prinsesa
• Chichewa: kalonga
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 公主 (zh) (gōngzhǔ), 王妃 (zh) (wángfēi)

• Coptic: ϣⲉⲣⲓⲛ̀ⲟⲩⲣⲱ f (šeriǹourō)
• Corsican: principessa
• Czech: princezna (cs) f
• Danish: prinsesse (da)
• Dutch: prinses (nl) f
• Esperanto: reĝidino, princino
• Estonian: printsess
• Faroese: kongsdóttir f, kongadóttir f, prinsessa f
• Finnish: prinsessa (fi)
• French: princesse (fr) f
• Galician: princesa (gl)
• Georgian: პრინცესა (ṗrincesa)
• German: Prinzessin (de) f, Königstochter (de) f (literally “king's daughter”), Königsenkelin f
• Greek: βασιλοπούλα (el) f (vasilopoúla)
• Gujarati: રાજકુમારી (rājkumārī)
• Haitian Creole: prensès
• Hausa: gimbiya
• Hawaiian: kamāliʻi wahine
• Hebrew: נְסִיכָה‎ (he) f (nesikhá)
• Hiligaynon: dayang
• Hindi: राजकुमारी f (rājkumārī), शहज़ादी (śahzādī), राजकन्या (hi) f (rājkanyā)
• Hungarian: hercegnő (hu)
• Icelandic: prinsessa (is) f
• Igbo: ada eze
• Indonesian: putri (id) f, puteri (id) f
• Interlingua: princessa
• Irish: flaith f, iníon rí f
• Italian: principessa (it) f
• Japanese: 姫 (ja) (ひめ, hime), 王女 (ja) (おうじょ, ōjo), 公主 (ja) (こうしゅ, kōshu)
• Javanese: putri (jv)
• Kazakh: ханзада (xanzada), ханша (xanşa)
• Khmer: រាជបុត្រី (riəc botrəy), ព្រះនាង (prĕəh niəng)
• Korean: 공주(公主) (ko) (gongju), 왕녀(王女) (ko) (wangnyeo)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: dotmîr (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: канбийке (qanbiyke), принцесса (printsessa)
• Lao: ເຈົ້າຍິງ (chao nying)
• Latin: filia regis f, regina (la) f
• Latvian: princese f
• Lithuanian: princesė f
• Luxembourgish: prinzessin
• Macedonian: принце́за f (princéza)
• Malagasy: andriambavy (mg)
• Malay: puteri

• Malayalam: രാജകുമാരി (rājakumāri)
• Maltese: prinċipessa
• Manchu: ᡤᡠᠩᠵᡠ (gungju)
• Maori: pirinihi
• Maranao: liamin
• Marathi: राजकुमारी (rājkumārī)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: гүнж (mn) (günj)

  Mongolian: ᠭᠦ᠋ᠩᠵᠦ (güngǰü)

• Nahuatl: cīhuapīlli, siuapili (nah)
• Nepali: राजकुमारी (ne) (rājakumārī)
• Norman: prîncêsse f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: prinsesse f

• Old Norse: jungfrú f, dróttning f
• Ottoman Turkish: خانم‎ (hanum)
• Pashto: شازادګۍ‎ f (šazādgǝ́y), شازادۍ‎ f (šazādǝ́y), شاهزادګۍ‎ f (šāhzādgǝ́y), شاهزۍ‎ (ps) f (šāhzǝ́y), شهزادګۍ‎ f (šahzādgᶕy), شهزادۍ‎ f (šahzādǝ́y)
• Persian: شاهدخت‎ (fa) (šâhdoxt)
• Polish: księżniczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: princesa (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਰਾਜਕੁਮਾਰੀ (rājkumārī)
• Quechua: ñust'a
• Romanian: prințesă (ro) f
• Russian: принце́сса (ru) f (princéssa), царе́вна (ru) f (carévna) (daughter of a tsar), короле́вна (ru) f (korolévna) (daughter of a king)
• Samoan: purinisese
• Scottish Gaelic: bana-phrionnsa f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: принце́за f

  Roman: princéza (sh) f

• Sinhalese: කුමරිය (kumariya)
• Slovak: princezná f
• Slovene: princesa (sl) f
• Somali: amiirad
• Spanish: princesa (es), infanta (es) f
• Sundanese: sang putri, tuan putri, putri raja
• Swahili: mtoto wa kike wa mfalme
• Swedish: prinsessa (sv) c
• Tagalog: lakambini, prinsesa (tl), dayangdayang
• Tajik: шоҳзодахоним (šohzodaxonim), шоҳдухтар (šohduxtar), шоҳдухт (šohduxt)
• Tamil: இளவரசி (ta) (iḷavaraci), அரசகுமாரி (aracakumāri)
• Tatar: принцесса (printsessa)
• Telugu: యువరాణి (te) (yuvarāṇi), ప్రిన్సెస్ (prinses)
• Thai: เจ้าหญิง (th) (jâao-yǐng)
• Tibetan: སྲས་མོ (sras mo)
• Tongan: pilinisesi
• Turkish: prenses (tr) f
• Turkmen: şazada
• Ukrainian: принце́са f (pryncésa), царі́вна (uk) f (carívna) (daughter of a tsar), королі́вна (uk) f (korolívna) (daughter of a king)
• Urdu: شہزدی‎ f (śahzadī), راجکماری‎ f (rājkumārī)
• Uyghur: مەلىكە‎ (melike), خانىكە‎ (xanike)
• Uzbek: malika (uz), prinsessa
• Vietnamese: công chúa (vi) (公主 (vi)), bà chúa (vi)
• Volapük: ledaut (vo), jiplin (vo)
• Walloon: princesse (wa) f
• Welsh: tywysoges (cy)
• West Frisian: prinsesse
• Yiddish: פּרינצעסין‎ f (printsesin), בת־מלכּה‎ f (bas-malke)
• Yoruba: ọmọ alade
• Zulu: inkosazana 9 or 6

woman or girl who excels in a given field or class

female monarch, or wife of a ruler

• Afrikaans: koningin (af) f
• Armenian: իշխանուհի (hy) (išxanuhi)
• Belarusian: княгі́ня f (knjahínja)
• Bulgarian: княги́ня (bg) f (knjagínja)
• Catalan: princesa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 公主 (zh) (gōngzhǔ), 王妃 (zh) (wángfēi)

• Czech: kněžna (cs) f
• Dutch: koningin (nl) f, prinses (nl) f
• Esperanto: princino
• Finnish: ruhtinatar; kuningatar (fi) (queen)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Fürstin (de) f
• Greek: πριγκίπισσα (el) f (prigkípissa)
• Hebrew: נְסִיכָה‎ (he) f (nesikhá)
• Hungarian: fejedelemasszony (hu)
• Indonesian: ratu (id) f
• Irish: banphrionsa m, banfhlaith m
• Japanese: 王妃 (ja) (おうひ, ōhi), 皇女 (ja) (こうじょ, kōjo)
• Korean: 왕비(王妃) (ko) (wangbi)

• Latin: regina (la) f
• Macedonian: кнегиња f (kneginja)
• Nahuatl: cīhuatlahtoāni, siuatlajtoani
• Norman: prîncêsse f
• Polish: księżna (pl) f
• Portuguese: rainha (pt) f
• Russian: княги́ня (ru) f (knjagínja), принце́сса (ru) f (princéssa)
• Scottish Gaelic: bana-phrionnsa f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кнѐгиња f

  Roman: knèginja (sh) f

• Slovak: kňažná f
• Slovene: kneginja (sl) f
• Spanish: princesa (es)
• Swedish: furstinna (sv) c
• Tagalog: prinsesa (tl)
• Turkish: prenses (tr) f
• Ukrainian: княги́ня f (knjahýnja)
• Vietnamese: công chúa (vi) (公主 (vi)), công nữ (vi)
• Volapük: (♂♀) plin (vo), (♂) jiplin (vo)
• Yiddish: פּרינצעסין‎ f (printsesin)

wife of a prince; female ruler of a principality

• Bulgarian: принцеса (bg) f (princesa)
• Finnish: ruhtinatar

term of endearment for young girl

• Finnish: prinsessa (fi)

young girl or woman who is vain, prima donna

• Finnish: prinsessa (fi)

tinted crystal marble

Tarot card

• Finnish: prinsessa (fi)

female lemur

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ancient Greek: ^{(please verify)} βασίλεια f (basíleia)
• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} princesa (ca) f
• French: ^{(please verify)} princesse (fr) f
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} prinsessa (is) f, (obsolete) ^{(please verify)} prinsipissa f
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} dotmîr (ku) f

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} principissa f
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} രാജകുമാരി f (rājakumāri)

• Persian: ^{(please verify)} شاهزاده‌خانم‎ (shâhzâde-xânum)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} princeza (sh) f
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} princesa (es) f, ^{(please verify)} infanta (es) f
• Tamil: ^{(please verify)} குமாரத்தி (ta) (kumāratti), ^{(please verify)} இராசகுமாரி (irācakumāri)
• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} రాజకుమారి (te) (rājakumāri), ^{(please verify)} రాకుమారి (te) (rākumāri)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} công chúa (vi) (公主 (vi))

See also

• archduchess
• duchess
• grand duchess
• highness
• royal

Anagrams

• Crespins, crispens