Pythoness
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative letter-case form of Pythoness. alt-of
- 2 A female python.
"On the fifteenth of January, it was discovered that the pythoness had excluded rather more than a hundred dirty-white, leathery-looking eggs."
- 3 The priestess of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.
"The office of Pythoness appears not to have been desirable. Either the emanations from the cavern, or some art of the managers, threw her into real convulsions. Priests entitled prophets led her to the sacred tripod, force being often necessary for that purpose, and held her on it till her frenzy rose to whatever pitch was in their judgement most fit for the occasion."
- 4 a witch with powers of divination wordnet
- 5 A female soothsayer
Example
More examples"On the fifteenth of January, it was discovered that the pythoness had excluded rather more than a hundred dirty-white, leathery-looking eggs."
Etymology
See Pythoness.
From python + -ess.
From Late Latin pythonissa, from Ancient Greek Πυθία (Puthía). Compare Pythia.
More for "pythoness"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.