Word family noun government governor governess governorship adjective governmental governing gubernatorial verb govern adverb governmentally
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgovernessgov‧ern‧ess /ˈɡʌvənəs $ -ər-/ noun [countable] BOSEa female teacher in the past, who lived with a rich family and taught their children at home► see thesaurus at teacherExamples from the Corpus
governess• Finding teaching too confining, she gave up a post as a governess in 1895.• When I was last here I had spent time talking with Dalim Das, once a governess with a wealthy family.• By the age of twenty-four she was free to seek work outside the home, finding temporary positions as amanuensis and governess.• Edith died in 1871 and Maud and her sister Kathleen were cared for by a nurse and governess.• His sisters return to their positions as governesses, and Jane goes to live in a cottage by the school.• He painted Commonwealth Avenue, governesses and chil-dren in the snow.• She professed to have been a cook in a house where I was once governess.• When the children become only more wild, the Bloomfields blame their governess, and Agnes is let go after one year. 