A Dictionary of the English Language/abbess

by Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)

A′bbess. n. s. [Lat. abbatissa, from whence the Saxon abudisse, then probably abbatess, and by contraction abbesse in Fr. and abbess, Eng.] The superiour or governesfs of a nunnery or monastery of women.

They fled
Into this abbey, whither we pursued them;
And here the abbess shuts the gate on us,
And will not suffer us to fetch him out.Shakes. Com. of Errors.

I have a sister, abbess in Terceras,
Who lost her lover on her bridal-day.Dryd. D. Sebast.

Constantia, as soon as the solemnities of her reception were over, retired with the abbess into her own apartment.Addison.