English
abbess
Abbess comes from Middle English abbesse.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abbesse
- Englishearliest quotation 1770abbess
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abbesse
- Englishearliest quotation 1770abbess
Earliest quotation: 1770, Samuel Foote, The Lame Lover: “Why laſt night, as Colonel Kill'em, Sir William Weezy,…”
Linked words
through Ancient Greek ἀββα ‘father’
through Latin abbās ‘abbot’
Today it means
noun 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.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English abbesse / abbess