Voteress

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A woman who is bound by vows or devotion to a religious faith, a deity, or a particular cause
2. A female votary, someone who has dedicated herself to a sacred service or to a devoted way of life
3. A woman committed through solemn promise to a religious calling or to a cause she serves with loyalty

Etymology: "Voteress" is a plain English formation: "votary" (a person bound by vows, especially to a religious or devoted life) with the feminine suffix "-ess," which entered English from Old French "-esse" and was used freely to mark women in roles such as "actress" and "waitress." "Votary" itself comes from Latin "votum," a vow or solemn promise, the noun from "vovere," to vow, which also gave English "vow" and "devote." Its earliest uses in English date to the 1600s, when "votary" already described someone devoted to a cause, saint, or deity. Because "votary" has long carried a specific sense of religious devotion, "voteress" has mostly been used the same way: a woman who has taken religious vows, or, more loosely, a woman devoted to a particular god, goddess, or ideal.