shepherdess
nounEtymology From Middle English scheperdesse, shepperdesse; equivalent to shepherd + -ess.
1
Dated A female shepherd.
- I thought it a crime to refuse nature the maintenance of a life much more grievous than death. I changed my* dress for the simple habit of a shepherdess, and embraced this state as my only refuge; since that time all my consolation has been to weep over this grave, which shall be my own.1763, Select Moral Tales. (The Good Mother, The Shepherdess of the Alps), page 83:
- A Faithful Shepherdess1778, The Dramatick Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, page 115:
2 more examples
- September 2014, New York Film Festival to Revive Paul Grimault’s Animated Classic IndieWire the satirical The King And The Mockingbird follows a chimney sweep and shepherdess on the run from a tyrannical king
- November 2014, It’s Taken Decades, But the Surreal Animated Film The King and the Mockingbird Is Finally Here Vulture The king is in love with a beautiful shepherdess in a painting on his wall, but she herself is in love with the handsome chimney sweep in the painting beside her.
2
A large and deep armchair with a cushion.
- Derived terms
- shepherdess pie