governess
UK/ˈɡʌvənəs//ˈɡʌvɚnəs/
governess noun: a woman paid to educate children in their own home.
Noun
governess (plural governesses)
- A woman paid to educate children in their own home.
- Miss Jenny was obliged to obey the commands of her governess; though she was so good natured that she did it in the mildest terms; and endeavoured all she could to lessen, rather than increase, Mrs. Teachum’s anger.1749, Sarah Fielding, The Governess; Or, The Little Female Academy
- [Mashenka Pavletsky] returning from a walk to the house of the Kushkins, with whom she was living as a governess, found the household in a terrible turmoil.1917, Anton Chekhov, translated by Constance Garnett, An Upheaval
- Synonyms:
- governoress
- A female governor.
- “The Gates Ajar” seems to be the favorite song and inspiration of Ma Ferguson in her four years as governor. The lady governess pardoned criminals as soon as they were convicted and was so chronic in her actions that the courts had just about refused to function in convicting anyone.1927 January 21, “Hints and Dints”, in New Castle News, volume XLVII, number 117, New Castle, Pa., page four, columns 4–5
- I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am of this woman and all she stands for and all those shallow people who think an Alaskan governess has what it takes to be a VP.2008, @tiredofher, CNN, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2023
- Synonyms:
- governoress, gubernatrix
- The wife of a governor.
- The Lady Governeſs of the Town drew near to me; […]1697, The Ingenious and Diverting Letters of the Lady ⸺ Travels into Spain. […], 4th edition, London: […] Samuel Crouch […], page 22
- The common wood strawberry, which was introduced by the Right Hon. Lady Powis [Henrietta Clive, Countess of Powis] when Governess at Madras, grows in great luxuriance and of delightful flavour.1814, Benjamin Heyne, “Journal of a Tour from Bengalore to Trichinopoly, in 1802”, in Tracts, Historical and Statistical, on India; with Journals of Several Tours through Various Parts of the...
- Synonyms:
- governoress
Verb
governess (third-person singular simple present governesses, present participle governessing, simple past and past participle governessed)
governess meaning in Malayalam and Tagalog
governess in Malayalam
- ഗൃഹോപാധ്യായിനി, ശിശുപാലയിത്രി, ഭരണാധിപ, ഗാർഹികാദ്ധ്യാപിക
governess in Tagalog
- woman paid to educate children in their own home
- gintay
Examples of governess in a sentence
- The governess whisked the children from the room before they could see their presents.
- Then comes the chance to become a governess, first in St.
- A Recipe to make Cardinal, which I attribute to the German governess, raises a problem.
Synonyms of governess
Forms of governess
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | governesses |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | governesses |
| present participle | governessing |
| past participle | governessed |
| past | governessed |
Origin of governess
From Middle English governesse, a contracted form of governeresse, from Old French governeresse (“female ruler or administrator”). In later senses, equivalent to govern(or) + -ess.
Words formed from governess
- governess-cart
- governessdom
- governess general
- governess-general
- governesshood
- governessless
- governesslike
- governessship
- governess-ship
- governessy
- lieutenant governess
- subgoverness
- undergoverness
Questions about governess
- What does governess mean?
- Governess means a woman paid to educate children in their own home.
- What is governess in Malayalam?
- Governess in Malayalam is ഗൃഹോപാധ്യായിനി, ശിശുപാലയിത്രി, ഭരണാധിപ. See Governess meaning in Malayalam.
- What part of speech is governess?
- Governess can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce governess?
- Governess is pronounced /ˈɡʌvɚnəs/ (US).
- What is the plural of governess?
- The plural of governess is governesses.
Words near governess in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: governess (page history and authors); governess (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-governess.ogg.
Cite this entry: “governess.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/governess. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.