- 1女家庭教師（舊時住進有錢人家、在家教小孩的；不是保母）
A governess was, in the past, a woman who lived with a rich family and taught their children at home. She was not the mother, and she was not quite a servant either — a strange in-between job. She taught reading, writing, languages, music, and manners, usually to girls and to younger boys, before the boys were sent away to school. You meet her in old stories set in big houses. Though actually, she is not a nanny: a nanny looks after little children — food, clothes, sleep, comfort. A governess was a teacher who happened to live in. She is also not a governor. A governor runs a place; a governess taught children. The word feels historical now. Families today say private teacher or tutor if someone comes to the house to teach, and that person usually does not live there.
組成From Middle English governesse, shortened from governeresse, from Old French governeresse, a woman who rules or runs things. Later English speakers treated it as governor + -ess, the old ending for a woman.
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
governessnoun/ˈɡʌvɚnəs/
- 1
A woman paid to educate children in their own home.
- Miss Jenny was obliged to obey the commands of her governess; though she was so good natured that she did it in the mildest terms; and endeavoured all she could to lessen, rather than increase, Mrs. Teachum’s anger.
- [Mashenka Pavletsky] returning from a walk to the house of the Kushkins, with whom she was living as a governess, found the household in a terrible turmoil.
- 2
datedA female governor.
- “The Gates Ajar” seems to be the favorite song and inspiration of Ma Ferguson in her four years as governor. The lady governess pardoned criminals as soon as they were convicted and was so chronic in her actions that the courts had just about refused to function in convicting anyone.
- I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am of this woman and all she stands for and all those shallow people who think an Alaskan governess has what it takes to be a VP.
- 3
datedThe wife of a governor.
- The Lady Governeſs of the Town drew near to me; […]
- The common wood strawberry, which was introduced by the Right Hon. Lady Powis [Henrietta Clive, Countess of Powis] when Governess at Madras, grows in great luxuriance and of delightful flavour.
governessverb/ˈɡʌvɚnəs/
- 1
To work as governess; to educate children in their own home.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。