directress
(dɪˈrɛktrɪs)
Also 6–7 -esse, 8 directoress.
[f. director + -ess.]
A female who directs; † a governess. Also fig.
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 336 Directresse of my destinie. 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 236 We stile him happy too, that..life for his directresse takes. 1737 Johnson Irene iii. i, Reason! the hoary dotard's dull directress. 1741 Richardson Pamela II. 64 You shall be the Directress of your own Pleasures, and your own Time. 1801 Miss C. Smith Solitary Wanderer I. 240 Her cunning directress had foreseen that I should endeavour to obtain that proof of her regard. 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs vi, She..is a directress of many meritorious charitable institutions. 1884 Law Times 4 Oct. 369/1 The mother..obtained a conditional order for a habeas corpus addressed to the directress of the home. |