governess
pronunciation
How to pronounce governess in British English:
UK [ˈgʌvənəs]
How to pronounce governess in American English:
US [ˈgʌvərnəs]
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- Noun:
- a woman entrusted with the care and supervision of a child (especially in a private home)
Word Origin
- governess (n.)
- mid-15c., "female ruler," shortening of governouresse "a woman who rules" (late 14c.), from Old French governeresse "female ruler or administrator" (see governor + -ess). The Latin fem, form was gubernatrix. In the sense of "a female teacher in a private home" governess it is attested from 1712, probably as a fem. of governor in the now-obsolete sense "one who has charge of a young man's education and activities, a tutor" (1570s).
Example
- 1. You can always tell a governess at first glance .
- 2. Your father has asked me here to be your new governess .
- 3. You mean you don 't know anything about being a governess ?
- 4. You don 't look very much like a governess .
- 5. The transcendence and compromise of the narrative of jane eyre to the governess fiction .