Dictionary

jaileress en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree English jailer Late Latin -issader. Old French -essebor. Middle English -esse English -ess English jaileress From jailer + -ess.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) A female jailer.
   • Sit down here, and let me cover you with my cloak, and we will eat the supper our good jaileresses have provided; we have had nothing since daybreak. 1870, Frances Eastwood, Geoffrey the Lollard, page 171:
   • As she finished these words, Simon, who was then coming up, heard them, and saw the jaileress place in her pocket the money Maurice had given her. 1910, Alexandre Dumas, anonymous translator, The Chevalier de Maison Rouge, P F Collier & Son, translation of original in French, page 176:
   • As I got near to the avenue gate, instead of the school on my left there was a prison ; and at the door a little thick -set jailer, three feet high and much deformed, and a little deformed jaileress no bigger than himself, were cunningly watching me out of the corners of their eyes, and toothlessly smiling. 1891, George Du Maurier, Peter Ibbetson, page 201:

Forms