Word.ws English Dictionary

governesses

governesses is the plural of governess.

Meaning of governess

Noun

governess (plural governesses)

  1. 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
    Synonyms:
    governoress
  2. (dated) 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
  3. (dated) 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
    Synonyms:
    governoress

See all 4 meanings of governess

Questions about governesses

What is governesses the plural of?
Governesses is the plural of governess.

Words near governesses in the dictionary

  1. governess-carts
  2. governess-general
  3. governess-ship
  4. governessdom
  5. governessed
  6. governesses
  7. governesses-general
  8. governesshood
  9. governessing
  10. governessless
  11. governesslike

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: governesses (page history and authors); governess (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.

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