• princesse (archaic)

From Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse. By surface analysis, prince +‎ -ess.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹɪnˈsɛs/, /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/, /ˈpɹɪnsɪs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (UK) -ɛs

princess (plural princesses)

1. A female member of a royal family other than a queen, especially a daughter or granddaughter of a monarch. [from 14th c.]
   • 1872, George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin:

     She did not cry long, however, for she was as brave as could be expected of a princess of her age.

2. A woman or girl who excels in a given field or class. [from 14th c.]
   • 2014, Blake Masters, Peter Thiel, Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future:

     Michael Jackson was the king of pop. Britney Spears was the pop princess. Until they weren't.

3. (now archaic) A female ruler or monarch; a queen. [from 15th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene.[…], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     And running all with greedie ioyfulnesse / To faire Irena, at her feet did fall, / And her adored with due humblenesse, / As their true Liege and Princesse naturall […]

4. The wife of a prince; the female ruler of a principality. [from 15th c.]

   Princess Grace was the Princess of Monaco.

5. A young girl; used as a term of endearment. [from 18th c.]
6. (derogatory, chiefly US) A young girl or woman (or less commonly a man) who is vain, spoiled, or selfish; a prima donna. [from 20th c.]
   • 2020 September 15, Justmaiko, 2:13 from the start, in Trying Viral TikTok Life Hacks. **They Actually Work!!**‎^[1]:

     Jonathan, if you hear this, you're a beautiful princess, but you're also a big, fat dork.

7. A tinted crystal marble used in children's games.
8. A type of court card in the Tarot pack, coming between the 10 and the prince (Jack).
9. A female lemur.
10. A Bulgarian open-faced baked sandwich prepared with ground meat.
11. (chess) A fairy chess piece which combines the moves of the bishop and the knight.

• A princess is usually styled “Her Highness”. A princess in a royal family is “Her Royal Highness”; in an imperial family “Her Imperial Highness”.

• prince

• princely
• principality

• archduchess
• duchess
• grand duchess
• highness
• royal

• S. Emmerson, A Glossary of Fairy Chess Definitions

• Crespins, crispens