prioress meaning
prioress meaning The head of a group of nuns is a prioress. Geoffrey Chaucer immortalized this figure by including The Prioress‘s Tale as one of his 14th-century Canterbury Tales.
In the hierarchy of religious figures at a Carmelite or Dominican monastery, a group of nuns is lead by a prioress, whose superior is called an abbess. The male version of these ranks are prior and abbot, leaders who preside over a group of Catholic monks.
Definitions of prioress
the superior of a group of nuns
synonyms:
abbess, mother superiorexamples:- Saint BridgetIrish abbess; a patron saint of Ireland (453-523)
- Heloisestudent and mistress and wife of Abelard (circa 1098-1164)
types:
- mothera term of address for a mother superior
type of:
- superiorthe head of a religious community
- Saint Bridget
Word Family