‖ infanta
(ɪnˈfantə)
[Sp., Pg., fem. of infante.]
1. A daughter of the king and queen of Spain or Portugal; spec. the eldest daughter who is not heir to the throne.
| 1601 Imp. Consid. Sec. Priests (1675) 82 He might..intitle the King of Spain and the Infanta his Daughter to the Crown..of England. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2221/7 A Marriage is Treating between the Prince of Tuscany and the Infanta of Portugal. 1704 Ibid. No. 3989/2 Some of the Infantes his Sons, and both the Infanta's his Daughters, have been ill. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra II. 130 The tower of the Infantas, once the residence of the three beautiful Moorish princesses, partook of the general desolation. |
† 2. transf. and fig. Applied analogously or fancifully to other young ladies. Obs.
| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xvii. §108. 876 In the meanewhile Ladie Elizabeth the Infanta of England was in the French Court vsually called Madame the Daulphin. 1616 B. Jonson Devil an Ass iv. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 363/1 The very infanta of the giants. 1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry iv. i, O that I were the infanta queen of Europe! 1750 H. Walpole Lett. to Mann 31 Jan., Lady Catherine grew frightened, lest her infanta [her daughter] should vex herself sick. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. lxxxvii, Meanwhile the infanta [a girl] herself..promised to keep a stricter guard for the future. |
¶ See also infante.