marchioness

Noun

marchioness (plural marchionesses)

1. The wife of a marquess.
   • The first train over the bridge was driven by the Marchioness of Tweeddale, and the engine was No. 602 of the North British Railway Company.1941 January, the late John Phillimore, “The Forth Bridge 1890-1940”, in Railway Magazine, page 5
   • Rather than believe it, he goes crazy, falls in love with a marchioness, and gives his boodle gladly to a swindling genealogist who promises to establish that his delusions of nobility are justified.1966 September 22, Kurt Vonnegut, “The Fall of a Climber”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4
2. A woman holding the rank of marquess in her own right.
3. (obsolete, slang) An old-fashioned maid-of-all-work; female servant.
   • The beauty and charm of the little marchioness and the tender hearted old colored man, with their mutual affection, forcibly remind the reader of "Uncle Tom" and "Eva."1896, The Chautauquan, volume 22, page 382