lioness
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of lioness
1250–1300; Middle English liones, leonesse < Middle French lion ( n ) esse. See lion, -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.
Mr. Schaller spent three years studying lions in Africa, once crawling through thorny thickets to count cubs a lioness had hidden there.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
In Farsi, this term honors women who are strong, who stand up for their rights and who are trailblazers—courageous, brave and resilient, much like a lioness.
From Salon • Sep. 15, 2024
"I look upon Ambedkar as a father figure. So, I am my father's lioness," she says.
From BBC • May 30, 2024
The first episode, “African Queens,” shows how females rise to power in Tanzania, tracking three lioness sisters as one attracts a male lion who’s attacked her cubs.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 29, 2024
Mother opens her eyes and the lioness returns.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
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.
