Lioness
//ˈlaɪ.ə.nɪs// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A female lion (animal).
"Residents on the south-western outskirts of Berlin are being urged to stay indoors after overnight sightings of a “loose, dangerous animal”, suspected to be an escaped lioness."
- 2 A player for England women's national football team
- 3 a female lion wordnet
- 4 A female lion (famous person regarded with interest and curiosity). figuratively
"The stories were a tremendous success; she was one of the leading lionesses of London literary society."
- 5 A female visitor to a student at Oxford, especially during commemoration week. obsolete
"When "lionesses" visiting Oxford for the gay doings of commemoration week spend a morning at Merton, they should look out for Antony Wood's mural tablet in the chapel, […]"
Example
More examples"The lioness finally gave chase to the gazelle."
Etymology
From Middle English leonesse, lyonesse, from Old French leonesse, lionesse; equivalent to lion + -ess.
Related phrases
More for "lioness"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.