tyrannessn.
/tʌɪrənˈnɛs/, /ˈtʌɪrənnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈtaɪrə(n)nəs/ A female tyrant. Chiefly figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > absolute ruler > [noun] > female
empressc1350
tyranness1590
autocratrix1747
autocratrice1758
autocratress1763
tyrantess1890
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. v. sig. E6 They were by law of that proud Tyrannesse [Dame Pride],..Condemned to that Dongeon mercilesse.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 462 Semiramis the Babilonian tyrannesse.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xxi. §2. 530 The house of Dauid..was..rooted vp, and the Crowne of Iuda in..possession of a cruell Tyrannesse.
1643 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce 21 Not to canonize mariage either as a tyrannesse or a goddesse over the enfranchiz'd life and soul of man.
1706 I. Watts Horæ Lyricæ (1743) ii. xvi. 171 Custom, that Tyranness of Fools.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison III. xi. 82 She was..indeed a tyranness to all beneath her.
1815 W. Scott Let. 21 Jan. (1933) IV. 18 My Muse is a Tyranness and not a Christian Queen.
1824 R. Heber Jrnl. 24 Dec. in Narr. Journey Upper Provinces India (1828) I. xix. 543 She [sc. the Begum Sumroo] is, however, a sad tyranness.
1844 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 56 84 The lovely marble-souled tyranness has..turned back..a hundred, all worthily born.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1590