peeress

P3E1E1R1E1S1S1

noun

A noblewoman married to a peer.

Scrabble 9

Meanings

nounpeeress (plural peeresses)

plural peeresses

  1. A noblewoman married to a peer.

    But there were more than a score of peers there beside, with their peeresses in tall feathers, diamonds, and monstrous hoops.

    1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “Being a Chapter of Hoops, Feathers, and Brilliants, and Bucks and Fiddlers”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume II, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 208
  2. A woman holding a noble title in her own right.

    [I]t is obvious that the Californian heiress is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a British peeress.

    1892 [April], A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. X.—The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume III (January to June), number [16], London: George Newnes, Limited, […], page 388, column 1

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna woman of the peerage in Britain

Broader
female aristocrat

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*pūrijan
  2. Old English*pȳran
  3. Middle Englishperen
  4. Englishpeer
  5. Englishpeeress

From peer + -ess.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

peeress. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peeress

MLA

“peeress.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peeress. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “peeress,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/peeress.

Source: peeress on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.