princeshipn.
/ˈprɪnsʃɪp/, U.S. /ˈprɪnsˌʃɪp/ 1. The position, office, or rank of a prince; the period of a prince's reign.
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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > [noun] > position of
princeheada1382
princehooda1382
princedom1562
princeship1570
monarchy1747
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Mi/1 A Princeship, principatus.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine f. 49v This Prince-ship continued in the Primogeniture for many Ages.
1795 G. M. Serm. 4 In Europe we have many of these spiritual princes, who..like the other peers, have their signs of royalty and princeship.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. vii. 16 Within the circle of ordinary continental princeship.
1896 A. Dobson in Longman's Mag. Sept. 453 Some, especially in the princeship of the second George..were also accomplished and sensible.
1939 Jrnl. Mod. Hist. 11 453 The nature of princeship and princes is an ancient, ever recurring theme in political literature.
1988 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 29 June c20/5 Akeem goes underground..in an attempt to escape the responsibilities of princeship.
2. With possessive adjective. A title of (mock) respect given to a prince. Frequently humorous.
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1664 W. Killigrew Pandora i. 5 I wish your Prince-ship had all the Ladies you desire.
1739 H. Baker & J. Miller Princess of Elis iii. iii. 107 Yes, Madam, I was, and thought it a little impertinent, under favour of his Princeship.
1819 Monthly Mag. 48 415 His Princeship and her Princessship; his Dukeship and her Duchessship, may also find a place in his crabbed vocabulary, if he prefer it.
1882 E. Lazarus Dance to Death i. iii, in Poems (1889) 85 Obsequious caps Do kiss the stones to greet my princeship.
1908 News (Frederick, Maryland) 19 Dec. 7/1 His princeship forgot he was in Surrey.
2002 Sun (Nexis) 9 Jan. Edmund... Whatcha got your princeship?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1570