different between chieftainess vs chiefess

English

Etymology

From chieftain +? -ess. Middle English had an equivalent form cheventaynes but the New English Dictionary suggests the word was coined anew in modern English in the 19th century.

Noun

chieftainess (plural chieftainesses)

1. In tribal societies, a female chieftain or the wife of a chieftain.
   • 1815, Walter Scott, Guy Mannering, Chapter, [1]

     He gazed in silence for some minutes upon the body of Meg Merrilies, as it lay before him, with the features sharpened by death, yet still retaining the stern and energetic character which had maintained in life her superiority as the wild chieftainess of the lawless people amongst whom she was born.

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From chief +? -ess.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /t?i??f?s/

Noun

chiefess (plural chiefesses)

1. (Hawaii) A female chief or the wife of a chief.
   • 2012, Julia Flynn Siler, Lost Kingdom, Grove Press 2012, p. 7:

     Although Lili‘u was born a high chiefess, with lineage that reached back to the high chiefs under Kamehameha the Great, at the time of her birth it would never have seemed possible that she would someday become queen.

Synonyms

• chieftainess