rectoress
(ˈrɛktərɪs)
[f. rector + -ess.]
† 1. A female ruler. = rectress 1. Obs.
| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe 13 Our virgin rectoresse most of al, hath shoured downe her bounty vpon them. 1603 Drayton Bar. Wars i. xxxv, A most perfect Rectoress [1619 Rect'resse] of her will, Aboue the vsual weakenes of her kind. |
2. colloq. The wife of the rector of a parish.
| 1729 W. Stukeley in Mem. (Surtees) I. 225, I think now, my dearest love, I can wish you joy of being rectoress of All Hallows, Stanford. 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. xi, Raised by wedlock to the dignity of rectoress. 1880 Blackmore Mary Anerley III. xii. 181 Those four were..Robin Cockscroft, and Joan his wife, the rector, and the rectoress. |