Abbess

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæb.ɪs/

Definitions

1. A woman who serves as the superior or head of a convent or monastery of nuns
2. A female religious leader who governs a community of nuns and oversees the spiritual and administrative affairs of a convent
3. One who holds the highest authority in a convent for nuns and manages both their daily lives and religious duties

Etymology: Its root is one of the oldest words in religious life. "Abba" was an Aramaic word meaning "father," used by children addressing their fathers, and it passed into Greek as "abbas" and then into Latin as "abbas," where it became the standard title for the head of a monastery. The word "abbot" is that Latin form, and the feminine "abbatissa" was built from it in Late Latin by adding the Latin feminine ending "-issa," a suffix that had been borrowed from Greek "-issa" and that marks women in titles and nouns of this kind. The word then travelled through Old French as "abeesse" and entered Middle English as "abbesse," the form that eventually settled into the modern spelling. Its meaning stayed close to its Latin source: a woman who holds the authority over a community of nuns, much as an abbot does over monks.

Synonyms: nun, mother superior