Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A woman of gentle or noble birth or superior social position.
- noun A well-mannered and considerate woman with high standards of proper behavior.
- noun A woman acting as a personal attendant to a lady of rank.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A woman of good family or of good breeding.
- noun A woman who attends upon a person of high rank.
- noun A lady: a term of civility applied to any woman of respectable appearance.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A woman of good family or of good breeding; a woman above the vulgar.
- noun A woman who attends a lady of high rank.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete A woman of the
nobility .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a woman of refinement
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The good old lady admired the word gentlewoman of all others in the English vocabulary, and made all around her feel that such was her rank.
The Newcomes 2006
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In spite of the disguising plainness of my dress, I suppose the word gentlewoman was clearly stamped upon me.
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 355, October 16, 1886 Various
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The good old lady admired the word gentlewoman of all others in the English vocabulary, and made all around her feel that such was her rank.
The Newcomes William Makepeace Thackeray 1837
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Now all this while my good old nurse, Mrs. Mayoress, and all the rest of them did not understand me at all, for they meant one sort of thing by the word gentlewoman, and I meant quite another; for alas! all I understood by being a gentlewoman was to be able to work for myself, and get enough to keep me without that terrible bugbear going to service, whereas they meant to live great, rich and high, and I know not what.
Moll Flanders 2003
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Now all this while my good old nurse, Mrs. Mayoress, and all the rest of them did not understand me at all, for they meant one sort of thing by the word gentlewoman, and I meant quite another; for alas! all I understood by being a gentlewoman was to be able to work for myself, and get enough to keep me without that terrible bugbear going to service, whereas they meant to live great, rich and high, and I know not what.
The Fortunes And Misfortunes Of The Famous Moll Flanders Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731 1923
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Now all this while my good old nurse, Mrs. Mayoress, and all the rest of them did not understand me at all, for they meant one sort of thing by the word gentlewoman, and I meant quite another; for alas! all I understood by being a gentlewoman was to be able to work for myself, and get enough to keep me without that terrible bugbear going to service, whereas they meant to live great, rich and high, and I know not what.
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders Daniel Defoe 1696
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We should perhaps also rule out stowing away although, actually, I once got to Norway by sleeping in the ship's infirmary, no questions asked or acting as a paid companion to a distressed gentlewoman, which is all very well and good, but might involve too many afternoons reading Barbara Pym novels aloud to be truly beneficial.
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Night alone, that one occasion, is enough to set all on fire, and they are so cunning in great houses, that they make their best advantage of it: Many a gentlewoman, that is guilty to herself of her imperfections, paintings, impostures, will not willingly be seen by day, but as
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She is described as a gentlewoman of reserved and quiet deportment, "esteemed by her neighbours for graces of person as well as of mind and heart, and not less distinguished for her sound sense and good manners than for her cheerful temper and excellent housewifery."
James Watt Andrew Carnegie 1877
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The gentlewoman was a little coye, but, before they part, they concluded that the next daye at foure of the clock hee should come thither and eate a pound of cherries, which was resolved on with a succado des labras, and so with a loath to depart they tooke their leaves.
Arabian nights. English Anonymous 1855
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