duchesse

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A French duchess.

   • Ary Scheffer, the drawing-master of the young Orleans princesses, offered to go with Thiers and procure him an audience of the duc or duchesse, or Madame Adélaïde.
   • “[T]hat little violet [La Vallière], who hid herself in the grass, and was ashamed of being a mistress, a mother, and a duchesse; that will never be the model.”—Mme de Sévigné.
2. 2

   A type of dressing table with a swing glass.

   • One morning, during my first week at school, I sneaked into Mum and Dad's bedroom, opened the top drawer of the duchesse, where the coins ‘brought back from the war’ were kept, and helped myself to a handful.
3. 3

   Ellipsis of duchesse lace.

4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      Obsolete spelling of duchess.

The neighborhood

• neighborgrande-duchesse