lioness
See also: Lioness
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English leonesse, lyonesse, from Old French leonesse, lionesse; equivalent to lion + -ess.
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ˈlaɪ.ə.nɪs/, /ˈlaɪ.ə.nɛs/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Noun
editlioness (plural lionesses, masculine lion)
- A female lion (animal).
- Synonym: (idiomatic) queen of beasts
- (figurative) A female lion (famous person regarded with interest and curiosity).
- 1877, The Contemporary Review, volume 29, page 1123:
- The stories were a tremendous success; she was one of the leading lionesses of London literary society.
- 2005 August 19, James Sturcke, quoting Stuart Bell, “Mowlam a political ‘lioness’”, in The Guardian[2], →ISSN:
- The Middlesbrough Labour MP, Stuart Bell, a political and personal friend, said: "Mo was a lioness both in terms of the Labour party and politics nationally. She cut to the quick with any issue and proved herself a stateswoman of the highest order when seeking to negotiate the Northern Ireland Good Friday agreement.
- 2023 October 6, “Memorial honors trailblazing senator Dianne Feinstein: ‘She was a lioness’”, in The Guardian[3], sourced from Associated Press, →ISSN:
- The social worker said she talked to her 28-year-old daughter about the battles Feinstein fought so that younger generations of women could dream bigger. “She was a lioness.”
- (Oxford University slang, obsolete) A female visitor to a student at Oxford, especially during commemoration week.
- 1871, John Cordy Jeaffreson, Annals of Oxford, page 305:
- 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, […]
- 1888, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, page 271:
- "Now, boys, keep your eyes open, there must be plenty of lionesses about;" and thus warned, the whole load, including the cornopean player, were on the look-out for lady visitors, profanely called lionesses, all the way up the street.
Derived terms
editTranslations
editfemale lion
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References
edit- John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary
- “lioness”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “lioness”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
editCategories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms suffixed with -ess (female)
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Universities
- Oxford University slang
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Female animals
- en:Panthers