Dictionary

avertress en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /əˈvɜːtɹɪs/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From averter + -ess.

Meanings

1. A woman who averts.
   • O Son! Let Ambikâ Devî protect your front; Padmalochanâ protect your back; Pârvatî, your two sides; S’ivâ Devî, all around you; Vârâhî, in dreadful paths; Durgâ, in royal forts, Kâlikâ, in terrible fights; Parames’varî, in the platform hall; Mâtamgî, in the Svayamvara hall; Bhavanî, the Avertress of world, amidst the kings; Girijâ, in mountain passes; Chamundâ, in the sacrificial ground, and let the eternal Kâmagâ, protect you in the forests. 1923: Swami Vijnanananda, The S’rimad Devi Bhagawatam, volume 1, chapter XIX: “On the going to the Svayamvara assembly of Sudars’ana”, verses 34–37 (links: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9WKxHqkVUUUC&pg=PA255&dq=avertress&lr=#PPA255,M1, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uBEkOqvqSMkC&pg=PA268&dq=avertress&lr=, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kt02ZSt2Q8AC&pg=PA242&dq=avertress&lr=, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KwlHAYJR5KcC&pg=PA197&dq=avertress&lr=#PPA198,M1)
   • When ‛neath him yawned th’ expectant grave, Nor either parent dar’d to save, Tho’ hoary both, the life they gave, ‛Twas thine in youth to seek the tomb, 1838: Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, “The Beacon — from The Agamemnon”, chorus (lines 35–39), page 259

Forms