princess

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by DTLHS (talk | contribs) as of 19:26, 1 December 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Princess

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

Lua error: The template Template:PIE root does not use the parameter(s):
2=keh₂p
Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.

(deprecated template usage)

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

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /pɹɪnˈsɛs/, /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 291: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/, /ˈpɹɪnsɪs/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

princess (plural princesses)

  1. A female member of a royal family other than a queen, especially a daughter or granddaughter. [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.]
  3. (now archaic) A female ruler or monarch; a queen. [from 15th c.]
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.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

  • Possessive forms: princess's (main form used by academics) The princess's golden hair.; princess' (main form used by newspapers) The princess' golden hair.
  • 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

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

Anagrams