duchess

/ˈdʌtʃəs/

/ˈdʌtʃəs/

Other forms: duchesses

A duchess is a female member of a royal or noble family. If a woman marries a duke, she becomes a duchess.

Many duchesses inherit their title when they're born — there are still hereditary dukes and duchesses in the U.K., for example. In other cases, a woman marries into a noble family and finds herself with the title. The word duchess comes from the feminine form of the Latin dux, "leader or commander."

Definitions of duchess

1. noun

   the wife of a duke or a woman holding ducal title in her own right
   types:

   grand duchess

   the wife of a grand duke or a woman holding that rank in her own right

   type of:

   Lady, noblewoman, peeress

   a woman of the peerage in Britain