"duenna" meaning in English

See duenna in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /duˈɛ.nə/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-duenna.wav [Southern-England] Forms: duennas [plural]
Etymology: From Old Spanish duenna or dueña, from Vulgar Latin donna, from Latin domina (“Lady”). Doublet of dame. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|osp|duenna}} Old Spanish duenna, {{der|en|la-vul|donna}} Vulgar Latin donna, {{der|en|la|domina||Lady}} Latin domina (“Lady”), {{doublet|en|dame}} Doublet of dame Head templates: {{en-noun}} duenna (plural duennas)
  1. A chaperon of a young lady, usually an older woman. Translations (a chaperon of a young lady): компаньо́нка (kompanjónka) [feminine] (Bulgarian), accompagnatrice [feminine] (French), Begleiterin [feminine] (German), Aufsichtsperson [feminine] (German), Anstandsdame [feminine] (German), Aufpasser [masculine] (German), Begleitung [feminine] (German), Begleitperson [feminine] (German), компаньо́нка (kompanʹónka) [feminine] (Russian), дуэ́нья (duénʹja) [feminine] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-duenna-en-noun-Rj9td5Qc Disambiguation of 'a chaperon of a young lady': 98 2
  2. A governess or nanny. Translations (a governess or nanny): гуверна́нтка (guvernántka) [feminine] (Bulgarian), Erzieherin [feminine] (German), Gouvernante [feminine] (German), Hauslehrerin [feminine] (German), Kinderfrau [feminine] (German), Kinderfräulein [neuter] (German), гуверна́нтка (guvernántka) [feminine] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-duenna-en-noun-alDguVEc Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Russian translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 32 68 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 31 69 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 29 71 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 19 81 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 22 78 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 25 75 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 19 81 Disambiguation of 'a governess or nanny': 1 99
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: duennadom, duennaship

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "duennadom"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "duennaship"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "osp",
        "3": "duenna"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Spanish duenna",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-vul",
        "3": "donna"
      },
      "expansion": "Vulgar Latin donna",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "domina",
        "4": "",
        "5": "Lady"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin domina (“Lady”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dame"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of dame",
      "name": "doublet"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Old Spanish duenna or dueña, from Vulgar Latin donna, from Latin domina (“Lady”). Doublet of dame.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "duennas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "duenna (plural duennas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              150,
              157
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 193:",
          "text": "'Madam, I have a secret to tell you.' Now the very word secret is enough to rouse any one's curiosity; and, giving a quick glance round to see if her duennas were on the alert, she prepared to listen, and I saw that her eye had caught sight of the letter.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              88,
              95
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1949, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Pantheon Books:",
          "text": "Then he placed her in a house and shut her up in a chamber, appointing ten old women as duennas to guard her, and forbade her to go forth to the Seven Palaces.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              120,
              126
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, →OCLC, part 1, page 85:",
          "text": "I dared not do anything to spoil the image of me she had set up to adore. I had toadied to her when she was the awesome duenna of my darling, and a groveling something still persisted in my attitude toward her.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A chaperon of a young lady, usually an older woman."
      ],
      "id": "en-duenna-en-noun-Rj9td5Qc",
      "links": [
        [
          "chaperon",
          "chaperon"
        ],
        [
          "lady",
          "lady"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "lang_code": "bg",
          "roman": "kompanjónka",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "компаньо́нка"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "lang_code": "fr",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "accompagnatrice"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Begleiterin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Aufsichtsperson"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Anstandsdame"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Aufpasser"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Begleitung"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Begleitperson"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "kompanʹónka",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "компаньо́нка"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "duénʹja",
          "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "дуэ́нья"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "32 68",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "31 69",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "29 71",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 81",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A governess or nanny."
      ],
      "id": "en-duenna-en-noun-alDguVEc",
      "links": [
        [
          "governess",
          "governess"
        ],
        [
          "nanny",
          "nanny"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "lang_code": "bg",
          "roman": "guvernántka",
          "sense": "a governess or nanny",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "гуверна́нтка"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a governess or nanny",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Erzieherin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a governess or nanny",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Gouvernante"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a governess or nanny",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Hauslehrerin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a governess or nanny",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Kinderfrau"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "a governess or nanny",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Kinderfräulein"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "guvernántka",
          "sense": "a governess or nanny",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "гуверна́нтка"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/duˈɛ.nə/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-duenna.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d4/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-duenna.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-duenna.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d4/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-duenna.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-duenna.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "duenna"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English doublets",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Old Spanish",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Old Spanish",
    "English terms derived from Vulgar Latin",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "duennadom"
    },
    {
      "word": "duennaship"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "osp",
        "3": "duenna"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Spanish duenna",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-vul",
        "3": "donna"
      },
      "expansion": "Vulgar Latin donna",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "domina",
        "4": "",
        "5": "Lady"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin domina (“Lady”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dame"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of dame",
      "name": "doublet"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Old Spanish duenna or dueña, from Vulgar Latin donna, from Latin domina (“Lady”). Doublet of dame.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "duennas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "duenna (plural duennas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              150,
              157
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 193:",
          "text": "'Madam, I have a secret to tell you.' Now the very word secret is enough to rouse any one's curiosity; and, giving a quick glance round to see if her duennas were on the alert, she prepared to listen, and I saw that her eye had caught sight of the letter.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              88,
              95
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1949, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Pantheon Books:",
          "text": "Then he placed her in a house and shut her up in a chamber, appointing ten old women as duennas to guard her, and forbade her to go forth to the Seven Palaces.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              120,
              126
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, →OCLC, part 1, page 85:",
          "text": "I dared not do anything to spoil the image of me she had set up to adore. I had toadied to her when she was the awesome duenna of my darling, and a groveling something still persisted in my attitude toward her.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A chaperon of a young lady, usually an older woman."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "chaperon",
          "chaperon"
        ],
        [
          "lady",
          "lady"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A governess or nanny."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "governess",
          "governess"
        ],
        [
          "nanny",
          "nanny"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/duˈɛ.nə/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-duenna.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d4/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-duenna.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-duenna.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d4/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-duenna.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-duenna.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "lang_code": "bg",
      "roman": "kompanjónka",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "компаньо́нка"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "lang_code": "fr",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "accompagnatrice"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Begleiterin"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Aufsichtsperson"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Anstandsdame"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Aufpasser"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Begleitung"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Begleitperson"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "kompanʹónka",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "компаньо́нка"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "duénʹja",
      "sense": "a chaperon of a young lady",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "дуэ́нья"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "lang_code": "bg",
      "roman": "guvernántka",
      "sense": "a governess or nanny",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "гуверна́нтка"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a governess or nanny",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Erzieherin"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a governess or nanny",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Gouvernante"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a governess or nanny",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Hauslehrerin"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a governess or nanny",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Kinderfrau"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "a governess or nanny",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Kinderfräulein"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "guvernántka",
      "sense": "a governess or nanny",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "гуверна́нтка"
    }
  ],
  "word": "duenna"
}

Download raw JSONL data for duenna meaning in English (5.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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