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Wiktionary

lioness

See also: Lioness

English

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A lioness.

Etymology

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From Middle English leonesse, lyonesse, from Old French leonesse, lionesse; equivalent to lion +‎ -ess.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈlaɪ.ə.nɪs/, /ˈlaɪ.ə.nɛs/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Noun

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lioness (plural lionesses)

  1. A female lion (animal).
    Synonym: (idiomatic) queen of beasts
    • 2023 July 20, Philip Oltermann, “Lioness believed to be on loose in Berlin”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      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. (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.”
  3. (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

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Translations

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References

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Anagrams

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