shepherdess

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noun

A female shepherd.

“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”

UncommonScrabble 20

Meanings

nounshepherdess (plural shepherdesses)

plural shepherdesses

  1. datedA female shepherd.

    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

    3 more examples

    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 Shepherdess

    1778, The Dramatick Works of Beaumont and Fletcher, page 115

    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.

    Synonyms: pastoress, pastrix

  2. A large and deep armchair with a cushion.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA female shepherd.

Also see

Origin

  1. Middle Englishscheperdesse
  2. Englishshepherdess

From Middle English scheperdesse, shepperdesse; equivalent to shepherd + -ess.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ποιμενίς
  • ποιμενίς (poimenís)female shepherd
Czech pastýřka
  • pastýřkafemale shepherd
Dutch schapenhoedster, herderin
  • schapenhoedsterfemale shepherd
  • herderinfemale shepherd
  • herderinnetjefemale shepherd
Esperanto ŝafistino
  • ŝafistinofemale shepherd
Finnish paimenetar
  • paimenetarfemale shepherd
French bergère, pastourelle
  • bergèrefemale shepherd
  • pastourellefemale shepherd
German Hirtin, Schäferin
  • Hirtinfemale shepherd
  • Schäferinfemale shepherd
  • Schafhirtinfemale shepherd
Greek ποιμενίδα
  • ποιμενίδα (poimenída)female shepherd
Irish banaoire, bantréadaí
  • banaoirefemale shepherd
  • bantréadaífemale shepherd
Italian pastora, pastrice
  • pastorafemale shepherd
  • pastricefemale shepherd
Latin pastrix
  • pastrixfemale shepherd
Latvian gane
  • ganefemale shepherd
Polish pasterka, pastuszka
  • pasterkafemale shepherd
  • pastuszkafemale shepherd
Portuguese pastora
  • pastorafemale shepherd
Romanian ciobăniță, păstoriță
  • ciobănițăfemale shepherd
  • păstorițăfemale shepherd
Russian пасту́шка
  • пасту́шка (pastúška)female shepherd
Yiddish פּאַסטושקע
  • פּאַסטושקע (pastushke)female shepherd
Cite this entry
APA

shepherdess. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shepherdess

MLA

“shepherdess.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shepherdess. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shepherdess,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shepherdess.

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