Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The mistress of a castle.
- noun The mistress of a large, fashionable household.
- noun A clasp or chain worn at the waist for holding keys, a purse, or a watch.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A female castellan; the lady of the castle or château. See
chatelain . - noun A chain, or group of chains, worn by castellans, by which the keys of a castle were suspended from the girdle; hence, a similar modern device for suspending watch-keys, seals, trinkets, etc.; and so, by extension, the trinkets themselves.
- Pertaining to or of the nature of a chatelaine: as, a chatelaine watch.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An ornamental hook, or brooch worn by a lady at her waist, and having a short chain or chains attached for a watch, keys, trinkets, etc. Also used adjectively.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
mistress of a castle or large household. - noun A
chain orclasp worn at the waist by women, with handkerchief, keys, etc., attached (supposed to resemble the chain of keys once worn by mediaeval chatelaines).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a chain formerly worn at the waist by women; for carrying a purse or bunch of keys etc.
- noun the mistress of a chateau or large country house
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He’d spent a good hour looking up the word chatelaine in the dictionary.
Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001
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He’d spent a good hour looking up the word chatelaine in the dictionary.
Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001
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He’d spent a good hour looking up the word chatelaine in the dictionary.
Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001
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He’d spent a good hour looking up the word chatelaine in the dictionary.
Hearts STEF ANN HOLM 2001
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Elizabeth, retired into domestic bliss as a mother and the chatelaine of Pemberley, has lost that crucial wit and spark -- that feistiness and sense of self -- that Austen gave her and which made us love her.
Alan Elsner: The Mr. Darcy Industry Alan Elsner 2011
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Elizabeth, retired into domestic bliss as a mother and the chatelaine of Pemberley, has lost that crucial wit and spark -- that feistiness and sense of self -- that Austen gave her and which made us love her.
Alan Elsner: The Mr. Darcy Industry Alan Elsner 2011
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Carega, newly appointed chatelaine of Castle Vitre, had watched her through the Thenglass.
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The lovers' sojourn in Matthew's ancestral chateau is well-done, and some of the supporting characters are marvelous, notably Matthew's mother, a vampire chatelaine.
Books: 'A Discovery of Witches' by Deborah Harkness, reviewed by Elizabeth Hand 2011
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It was no wonder the chatelaine had instructed the child to withhold the flask save the three times.
Healing the Highlander Melissa Mayhue 2011
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It was no wonder the chatelaine had instructed the child to withhold the flask save the three times.
Healing the Highlander Melissa Mayhue 2011
rolig commented on the word chatelaine
"Just a kiss, just a kiss –
I have lived for this.
I can't explain
why I've become
Miss Chatelaine." – k.d. lang
Nice Canadian reference on the part of Albertan k.d. lang: Chatelaine is the name of a Canadian women's magazine.
December 5, 2007
reesetee commented on the word chatelaine
Ah, yes. They played that song to death here when it first debuted. :-)
December 5, 2007
knitandpurl commented on the word chatelaine
"Sophronia raised up her Depraved Lens of Crispy Magnification, a present on her fifteenth birthday from Dimity's brother, Pillover. It was essentially a high-powered monocle on a stick, but useful enough to keep at all times hanging from a chatelaine at her waist."
Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger, p 8
January 28, 2014