princess

US /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/ UK /pɹɪnˈsɛs/ See IPA manual

Freq #1389

Meanings

1

noun
A daughter or granddaughter of a king or queen.

The young princess waved to the crowd from the palace balcony.
2

noun
The wife of a prince.

Grace Kelly became a princess when she married the Prince of Monaco.
3

noun
A girl or woman who is spoiled, vain, or expects special treatment.

She acts like a princess and refuses to do any housework.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms princesses

Derived forms archprincessmerprincessprincess-consortprincess-featherprincess-shipprincessdomprincesshoodprincessianprincessificationprincessingprincessipalityprincessish

Related forms archduchessduchess highness princely principality royal

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

crown princess
a woman officially designated as next in line to inherit a royal throne

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse. By surface analysis, prince + -ess.

*keh₂p- Proto-Indo-European princesse Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# princess

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɹɪnsɛs/
**IPA (UK):** /pɹɪnˈsɛs/
**Frequency rank:** 1389

## Meanings
1. A daughter or granddaughter of a king or queen.
2. The wife of a prince.
3. A girl or woman who is spoiled, vain, or expects special treatment.

## Examples
- The young princess waved to the crowd from the palace balcony.
- Grace Kelly became a princess when she married the Prince of Monaco.
- She acts like a princess and refuses to do any housework.

## Derived Forms
- archprincess
- merprincess
- princess-consort
- princess-feather
- princess-ship
- princessdom
- princesshood
- princessian
- princessification
- princessing
- princessipality
- princessish

## Related Forms
- archduchess
- duchess
- highness
- princely
- principality
- royal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *keh₂p-
- Root: princesse

## Etymology
From Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse. By surface analysis, prince + -ess.

## AI Etymology
Princess comes from Middle English princesse, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman princesse, Old French princesse. By surface analysis, prince + -ess. The historical chain includes *keh₂p- (Proto-Indo-European), princesse (Middle English), princesse (xno), princesse (Old French). In present-day English it covers a daughter or granddaughter of a king or queen, the wife of a prince, and a girl or woman who is spoiled, vain, or expects special treatment. The wider family includes derived forms such as archprincess, merprincess, princess-consort, princess-feather, princess-ship and related forms such as archduchess, duchess, highness, princely.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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