tormentress en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /tɔɹˈmɛn.tɹəs/
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From Middle English turmenteresse. By surface analysis, tormentor + -ess.
Meanings
-
A female tormentor.
"Tell me," I repeated, but, alas ! miserably out of tune. My confusion rapidly increased, when the fair tormentress, turning towards me, said, perhaps it is my fault — I am not playing correctly?"
1836, The Meerut Universal Magazine, volume 2, page 390:Fortune ordinarily cometh after to whip and punish them, as the scourge and tormentresse of glory and honour.
1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:But if the victim Lavinia offers a prime example, her tormentress Tamora provides a no less striking model of another kind.
1996, Gordon Williams, Shakespeare, Sex and the Print Revolution:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| tormentresses | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Synonyms
Translations (1)
ru мучительница (a female tormentor)