duchess

«duchess» in Mova's school dictionary: a woman who is married to a duke, or a woman who holds… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a duchess, duchesses; the Duchess of …)

meaning for a pupil

1) A duchess is a woman who is married to a duke, or a woman who holds the rank of duke herself. tree →

2) (informal, UK) "Duchess" is sometimes a friendly or teasing way to speak to a woman, especially one who seems grand. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in news about the royal family (for example the Duchess of Cambridge or the Duchess of Sussex), in history, and in fairy tales. It tells the reader the woman has a very high rank. Phrases: «the Duke and Duchess», «Duchess of …», «Your Grace».

examples

• The Duchess visited a children's hospital. tree →
• The Duke and Duchess waved to the crowd. tree →
• In the story the duchess wore a dress covered in jewels. tree →
• A duchess is addressed as "Your Grace". tree →
• The duchess opened the new library. tree →
• "Mind your step, Duchess," joked the bus driver. tree →
• Meanwhile the Duchess Grumbly was also occupied in attiring herself. tree →

note

Countable noun; plural duchesses. Capital D in titles. Male form: duke. Her lands: a duchy. Spelling: ends in -ess like «princess».

In the corpora

• The Rabbit mutters "The Duchess!
• The Fish-Footman brings a letter "nearly as large as himself": "For the Duchess.
• The Duchess says "It's a Cheshire cat, and that's why.
• Alice says the Cat belongs to the Duchess, so they fetch the Duchess from prison.
• The Cat's head fades away while he is gone; when he comes back with the Duchess, it has entirely disappeared.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «duchess» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.