Abbess

//ˈæb.ɪs// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks.

    "The abbess was always after the nuns to keep the convent immaculately clean."

  2. 2
    the superior of a group of nuns wordnet
  3. 3
    A woman who runs a brothel; a woman employed by a prostitute to find clients. British, archaic, slang

    "Why laſt night, as Colonel Kill'em, Sir William Weezy, Lord Frederick Foretop, and I were careleſsly ſliding the Ranelagh round, picking our teeth, after a damn'd muzzy dinner at Boodle's, who ſhould trip by but an abbeſs, well known about town, with a ſmart little nun in her ſuite."

Synonyms

All synonyms
mother superiormother superiorbawdbawdcanonesschatelaine

Example

More examples

"The abbess asked Mary if she was completely sure that the monastic life fit her."

Etymology

From Middle English abbesse, from Old French abeesse (French abbesse), from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbatissa, feminine of Latin abbas, abbatis (“abbot”).

Related phrases

mother superior

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.