Word.ws English Dictionary

rectress

rectress is the alternative form of rectoress.

Meaning of rectoress

Noun

rectoress (plural rectoresses)

  1. A governess; a rectrix.
    • Diſſembling griefe, as one that knevv not ill, / So can ſhe rule the greatneſſe of her mind, / As a moſt perfect Rectoreſſe of her vvill, / Aboue the vſuall vveakneſſe of her kind; […]1605, Michaell Draiton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “The First Booke of the Barrons Warres”, in Poems: […], London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] Ling, →OCLC, stanza 35, page 13
  2. The wife of a rector.
    • In this way the worthy Rectoress consoled herself : and her daughters sighed, and sate over the Peerage all night1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC

Forms of rectress

pluralrectresses

Origin of rectress

From rector + -ess.

Questions about rectress

What is rectress the alternative form of?
Rectress is the alternative form of rectoress.

Words near rectress in the dictionary

  1. rectovaginally
  2. rectovesical
  3. rectovesicular
  4. rectovestibular
  5. rectovulvar
  6. rectress
  7. rectresses
  8. rectrices
  9. rectricial
  10. rectrix
  11. rects

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rectress (page history and authors); rectoress (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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Cite this entry: “rectress.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rectress. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.