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canoness

American  
[kan-uh-nis] / ˈkæn ə nɪs /

noun

  1. a member of a Christian community of women living under a rule but not under a vow.

canoness British  
/ ˈkænənɪs /

noun

  1. RC Church a woman belonging to any one of several religious orders and living under a rule but not under a vow

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Gender

What's the difference between canoness and canon? See -ess.

Etymology

Origin of canoness

First recorded in 1675–85; canon 2 + -ess

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The nine-day period began with his canonizing as Saints Lucia Filippini, foundress of the religious educational order Maestre Pie Filippini, and Caterina Thoma, a Spanish canoness.

From Time Magazine Archive

"From my very heart!" exclaimed the canoness, with emotion.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 07 — Fiction by Mee, Arthur

At her side stood her younger sister, a canoness, who was paying her a few days' visit—an amiable lady with a very cheerful temperament.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 17, No. 100, April, 1876 by Various

His feelings towards me he likewise showed us pantomimically, by procuring me a post of canoness, the income of which I very soon began to draw.

From Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and Travels, Vol. I (of 2) by Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von

She was a niece of Madame Guyon, a young lady whom they called Madame de la Maisonfort, for she was a canoness.

From Priests, Women, and Families by Michelet, Jules

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.