duchesse

Noun

duchesse (countable and uncountable, plural duchesses)

1. (countable) A French duchess.
   • Ary Scheffer, the drawing-master of the young Orleans princesses, offered to go with Thiers and procure him an audience of the duc or duchesse, or Madame Adélaïde.1877 December 15, Emily Crawford, “M. Thiers: A Sketch from Life”, in Littell’s Living Age, volume CXXXV / fifth series, volume XX, number 1748, Boston, Mass.: Littell and Gay, page 679, column 2
   • “[T]hat little violet [La Vallière], who hid herself in the grass, and was ashamed of being a mistress, a mother, and a duchesse; that will never be the model.”—Mme de Sévigné.1888, Augustus J[ohn] C[uthbert] Hare, Days Near Paris, New York, N.Y.; London; Glasgow: George Routledge and Sons, page 257
2. (countable) A type of dressing table with a swing glass.
   • One morning, during my first week at school, I sneaked into Mum and Dad's bedroom, opened the top drawer of the duchesse, where the coins ‘brought back from the war’ were kept, and helped myself to a handful.1982, Janet Frame, An Angel at my Table, Virago, published 2024, page 22