preceptress

[ pri-sep-tris, pree-sep- ]

noun

1. a woman who is an instructor; teacher; tutor.
2. a woman who is the head of a school.

Gender Note

See -ess.

Word History and Origins

Origin of preceptress¹

precept(o)r + -ess

Example Sentences

The child glanced towards her mother, who was standing by a window, and I saw who was her preceptress.

From Project Gutenberg

She had a taste, which would have seemed ludicrous to her mates, if they had not felt some awe of her, from a touch of genius and power, that never left her, for costume and fancy dresses; always some sash twisted about her, some drapery, something odd in the arrangement of her hair and dress; so that the methodical preceptress dared not let her go out without a careful scrutiny and remodelling, whose soberizing effects generally disappeared the moment she was in the free air.

From Project Gutenberg

But the plague of it was that the thought of the training brought with it the memory of the preceptress who had so ably carried out his orders.

From Project Gutenberg

The sage adviser, the firm preceptress, the model of the virtues of self-control—how would she have looked in the eyes of Vivien, even had the open, the triumphant victory come to pass?

From Project Gutenberg

Hence the unexceptionable credentials which had introduced her to Nutley, had made her Vivien's preceptress, Vivien's bulwark against fear and weakness, Vivien's shield—and destined to be a shield to successive young ladies after Vivien.

From Project Gutenberg