Princess

How to spell princess

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce princess

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does princess mean?

1. nounA female member of a royal family, typically the daughter of a monarch or the wife of a prince.

Princess in a sentence

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

• The museum displayed a gown once worn by a foreign princess.

Where does princess come from?

Language of origin: French

The word arrived in English in the early 1300s from the Old French princesse, the feminine form of prince. That in turn rests on the Latin princeps, which literally described the person who takes first place, formed from primus meaning 'first' and capere meaning 'to take'. The feminine ending -ess, also seen in words like duchess and countess, was attached to mark the female counterpart of a prince, whether a ruler's daughter or the wife of a prince. The doubled s at the end comes straight from that French -esse suffix, and it is exactly the spot where writers hesitate, since the single s of prince suddenly becomes a double s. The same princeps root still sits inside everyday words such as prince, principal, and principle.

How the word is built

• princ- (from princeps: first, chief)
• -ess (feminine noun suffix)